Introspection

Reflections

2011-11-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

I know that I am extremely sensitive person and when I get upset, whatever, the reason might be, I just can't concentrate on anything and am totally disturbed. Any sort of excitement which I might come across is short lived as there is a cognitive dissonance and I tend to realize that I am not happy and I cannot enjoy that moment because of something which happened in the past.

This took a toll on my immune system. Last year, when I was going through such a phase, I had a terrible cold which lasted for more than 3 weeks, my voice was hoarse, I coughed a lot and was very weak. I just couldn't take it anymore. Trying to introspect as to what went wrong with my health, I cogitated over ways I could strengthen my immune system. I kept thinking about my patterns of illness and stress and realized that they both were related. Every time I get stressed, I fall sick and the illness lasts longer debilitating me.

I still remember the day in fall, last year, how sick I was. The school had just started and I was having an extremely difficult student to deal with. Every day I would go home thinking of what else I could do to help the student and myself, as that was the only way I would feel better. But, it did not feel right that I was blaming myself for everything. I asked myself " Why am I sad?" I immediately got the answer. However, I knew I had to find a solution to the problem. So the next question I asked myself was "What will make me happy?". Thinking about the latter helped me immensely. Gosh! I felt great when I thought of all the things which could make me happy. Those thoughts motivated me to think of possible solutions for my stressful situation.

Asmall shift in my thoughts and restructuring helped me cope up with my situation. I use that strategy every now and then when I feel low.

Most of the times we are wandering in search of answers, relief from problems and some solace from external sources. Hardly do we realize that each of us have the intrinsic power to achieve what we want.

Need for self-realization

2007-11-29T20:54:00.000-08:00

So do they still have caste system in India?
Why do they have that in India?
Which caste do you belong to?
Yes, I like India you know? Buddhism was founded there. I am a follower of the teachings of Buddha. I know a lot about India.. The caste system too.

These are some comments I get when I mention about my country. Everyone who is aware of India will be aware of caste system in India. Another interesting thing is that though Americans are not aware of the number of Indians in their country, they do know about caste system. They might not even locate where India is on the map but would be able to talk about caste system. This is not just the case of the students but also the teachers. They have half-baked knowledge about this system but talk about it very confidently. I was getting tired of explaining them that caste system was not present in the ancient ages. But it was a creation of the middle ages wherein the divisions created as per the knowledge or skill of a person were supposed to help the society. The ones having extensive knowledge were revered and had the task of creating great literature. The ones who were strong and aggressive were given the responsibility of guarding the country/territories. The one who were shrewd were trading and opening businesses. The ones who were did not have nay of the above were there to provide services to the people by doing menial jobs and manual labor. However, these divisions were based on the individual skills of a person but later were passed to the progeny. No one ever mentions that when they talk about caste system in India. Many of them still think that this country is full of snake charmers and bullock carts.

Any ways, I am not writing this to criticize the western media but to reprimand our fellow Indians. I had never in my life experienced and discrimination with regard to my caste/creed/religion. We never decided friends based on their caste /creed/religion. I went to a convent school wherein I used to frequent the church in our campus during the exam times. We as a family used to visit the thombs of some great muslim saints and have a cook out there. Never did we think about segregating ourselves. I never understood why the western media was always writing about the negative aspects of our culture more often. It didn’t make me feel good.

Any ways, during my previous visit to India, I decided to spend some time at my in-laws place. I was astonished as to how prominent role a person’s caste and religion plays in his/her daily life. It was crazy. People liked to mingle with people of the same caste. Even winning elections was a challenge for the ones belonging to the lower castes. You are supposed to befriend a person of your caste and also marry someone from the same caste. It was very bad. I was depressed about the situation.

So who was right? Me trying to defend my culture and my roots or the western media who only potrays the negatives of a culture?
Well, I do not know the answer for this but I for sure know this:
We Indians need to stop this discrimination against our own brothers and sisters. Why do we do this to our fellow countrymen?
Why do you think Indians are more prosperous in other countries than in their own country ? Why can’t we apply our secular attitude towards people of different castes? Why are we so competitive against our own brothers and sisters?
Why do we like to segregate ourselves and destroy our country?
Why are we not progressing when we have great brains, a very ancient civilization with great treasures, a huge manpower, a democracy with all the powers vested in all the individuals?

Open up your eyes.

Why? Why? Why?

2007-11-29T20:20:00.001-08:00

I don’t understand it. Whenever I hear the song “Vandemataram” (any version), I burst into tears. This August, I was in Ongole, attending the Independence Day parade. I was seated just beside my mother-in-law very much in the VIPs’ isle to witness the national celebration. It was a hot day and I needed my shades. The parade kept going on and there was a running commentary going on in my mind some times criticizing the programs and some times appreciating them. However, every time they played the “Vande mataram” song I was unable to hold it together. I just burst into tears. It was good that I had my shades and no one noticed it. But I had to try hard to stop myself.
While there was a presentation by some group, I started analyzing myself:
What is wrong with me? Why am I crying? Is it because I feel so strong about my motherland or is that the song is so emotional that it can make anyone cry? Well, I don’t see anyone crying? Then why am I doing it?

It was tough situation. I was close to the performers. To top it all, my mother-in-law was sitting beside me. Gosh! I did not want her to notice that. I don’t want her to feel sorry for asking me to accompany her in the celebrations. I didn’t want photographers to click me and make a big deal out of it. You know the paparazzi? Aren’t they crazy some times? Hmm.. What should I do now?
I kept thinking and then an idea struck me. Of course I can do that! I have been having a running commentary of the whole program in my mind trying to criticize/appreciate the different shows. I decided to put in my entire mind on that rather than the song.

I made up my mind and waited to see how my strategy worked. There were these group of kids who sat in the sun for almost 2 hours listening to the never ending speech of the minister and lined up to perform. They might have practiced the steps for days in advance but they barely had 8 minutes to perform. Wow! There you go. Now I can debate on this when they play “Vande mataram” I will be so obsessed with the argument in my mind that I will not have time to cry. Great! I was happy. So I kept working thinking about it till the next group came to present theirs. The dance and the performance of the kids was so good that my mind stopped arguing and got into an intense observation mode. Seems like the organizers did not mind the performance stretching beyond their allotted time. And, as part of the choreography and the steps, they at last played the “Vandemataram” song.
Ohhhh! I couldn’t stop it. My eyes were filled with tears. Now I had to stop them from crossing their boundaries. I immediately started batting my eyelids to dry them up and thinking about the previous performance. The group finished their play. Great! “Good” I told myself. However I was not happy that I could not be myself. I was also not happy that I started acting the way I used to act when I was 6 or 7 years old. I could not see the actors on the screen in sorrow or despair and I would burst out crying like I was the victim.

I remember how I cried and cried and cried when Kamal Hassan was whipped by his uncle in the film Swathimuthyam. My cousin continued to tease me till I was 22 or so. Well, if you remind him of that movie now, I am sure he will start chuckling again. Any ways, so I was now determined to control my emotions and let go off the sentimental feeling towards the song. As the groups kept performing, I tried to engage in their dances or their steps or kept running a commentary in my mind. Most of the times I didn’t have to do that, as they did not play the song. BUT they did play it at least 5 to 6 times. I was able to control myself whenever I diverted my attention to the other things. I was happy. The show was almost coming to an end when a huge group of students came forward to perform on different patriotic songs from the bollywood movies. It was a feast to watch those kids perform in the scorching heat. They were looking so cute dressed up in different costumes. They played some of the old songs and the new patriotic songs. The students moved to those tunes and acted accordingly. It was a feast to the eyes and my mind. It was soo good! Oh no! I couldn’t hold it. I again burst into tears. My tears rolled down the cheeks. I wiped them out and tried hard but couldn’t hold it. Well, I wanted to make sure no one was looking at me. Surprisingly everyone was so involved in the show that they did not notice me. I was able to cry for a few more minutes and wipe my cheeks off the tears.

GOSH! This time I cried when they played other songs. Why am I so emotional towards patriotic songs? Is it a manifestation my patriotism or the nature of these songs on the emotions of a person? I know I love my country but why should I cry? I kept debating about it my mind again. Pretty soon I forgot everything and got back into my routing.

Today while browsing through some of the blogs, I came through the “Vandemataram” song again played using different musical instruments and sung by eminent artists from India. And of course! it was composed by A. R Rehman. While watching the video, the picture suddenly blurred. I knew there was nothing wrong with the screen but my eyes were full again. Tears rolled. I let myself watch it without any inhibitions. I cried and cried and cried.
After calming down, I still don’t understand why I was crying?

Teaching=Knowledge+Patience+Experience*2

2007-09-25T17:40:00.001-07:00

Teaching is an art, which can be mastered with time. You need a combination of knowledge, patience, and the experience to be a good teacher. In my seven years of teaching, I learnt the secret of teaching. I am sure that as time passes by, I might alter or even change this equation. However, so far, the above equation has helped me to be a successful teacher and a more confident individual.

Working in Boston Public schools has been a good experience. The academic year 2006-2007 was a very successful year for me as an Educator. Though I did taste success as a teacher in India, it was a start from the scratch for me. Teaching in the US is no way similar to teaching in India. Hence I had to learn new aspects of teaching, assimilate the culture, practice new methods, inculcate the knowledge I gained and be patient for the results. Apart from all the above, I also used my previous experience of working with children in India to help understand the students better.
Last year it was a fresh start for me in many ways. New place, new home, new school system, newly married and a need for a new visa. My patience, persistence, knowledge to deal with new situations helped me succeed.

Patience:
Being on the H1B visa, I was not allowed to work till I got my visa transferred to my new work place. It took me a month and a half for me to get that done and till then I decided to volunteer in my own class. Though there was a substitute teacher in my class, I decided to do everything.

Experience:
Experience had taught me that students need some time to get used to the new routine as well as the teacher. Too many teachers mean too many transitions and too much confusion. I had already experienced a disaster last year and I didn't want that to be repeated.

Patience:
Though I had to spend 3 hours commuting everyday for nothing, I decided to be patient and continue going to school. My day at school started at 8:00am and ended around 5:00-5:30p.m.

Knowledge:
I set up the routines, tried to know the students better, used every opportunity to reinforce the positive behavior and also correct the wrong behavior. The group of students I had was very outgoing. They craved for attention and loved visibility. Among them, some were notorious for their hyperactive/disruptive behavior. However, at the end of the year they turned out too be more mature, more grounded and more learned. Though the students looked "smart" for the visitors, it was challenging for them to sound out the words, write a few sentences, solve simple problems in math and comprehend simple texts. Since they loved visibility and fame, I decided to use it as the main reinforcement for the students to succeed. Even a small piece of work was displayed outside the classroom. Every opportunity was used to praise the students in front of the visitors and they were given short- term goals to compete and improve at their own pace.

Thus, I started out with students who hardly knew to write a sentence and ended with students who could frame sentences and spell phonetically. Some could even write meaningful sentences and a paragraph. Moreover, in math, I had 4 of my students reach the benchmark expected of average second graders. I was really proud that 4 of my students out of 10 knew to solve math problems at their grade level. Their confidence levels grew and they loved to come to school. They loved challenges and got involved in the process of learning.

Experience:
Sometimes scaring the kids is also good:). I had warned the students that if they did not try hard they would be retained in the same class for the next year while their friends would be in third grade. They really worked to do better.

Experience + Knowledge:
Most of the times I had to deal with aggressive behaviors. Having an incremental system of good consequences and bad consequences helped immensely. The students were held accountable and got the consequences they worked towards. Since every behavior had a consequence, it shaped their behavior. They learned to do what was good for them and tried to avoid and if not control themselves when not so good. At the end of the school year, the principal was invited to give away certificates for students who fared very well. Even the students whose performance was average were also given a graduation certificate.

The students enjoyed it the most. The piece of laminated paper with their names on it became their valuable possession at that moment.

Patience + Knowledge + 2*Experience:
Thus, my decision to work without pay was a good one. My knowledge of how to deal with problem behaviors and students with special needs helped.
To top it all my previous failures, my previous experience of dealing with children, knowing what they need and how they react, helped me immensely.

I hope to carry this formula of mine to have more successful teaching years and to help more young people to their maximum potential

"We make a difference. What do you do? "

2007-04-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was young, I was often asked the question, and “So what do you want to be when you grow up?” My answer would be a doctor, engineer, airhostess or a teacher depending on my mood, the people who influenced me at that time or what I heard from my peers. However, as II grew, my thinking, my values, and my passion to serve the society helped me decide a career. Though the profession itself was challenging, I also had to work hard to get accepted by many of them for what I was doing. Though it does sound ridiculous, the truth is that not many revere teaching profession and teachers.

However, teachers play an important role in building the society. But these same teachers do not receive enough respect and gratitude for all they put in their work. I had to face many challenges to become a teacher. My credibility was questioned several times. Even the very educated who themselves were involved in some type of social work or the other, condemned my profession. Even more, according to these same "social entrepreneurs" working with students with special needs who they label as "mad" is the cheapest job one can do. These words are from those who have degrees, who are from "educated" families, who "seem" to be involved in community activities and care for the society more than anyone else but still do not have any respect for the "teaching" profession.
According to many, teaching is not a career or a profession but is an option, which a less intelligent or less capable person takes up.

My question to all those educated illiterates is that where did the doctors, engineers, astronauts, entrepreneurs or whatever emerge from? Where do they go to acquire those skills and improve themselves? Are they born with those abilities? How many in this world are what they are without their parents (who are also the primary teachers) or their teachers? If no one passed on the knowledge to the next generation or even to the ones who they knew, would we be what we are today? So why are those people who pass on their knowledge, values and skills mistreated? Why are they not given a better status of not the best status in the society?

My question to each and everyone out there who disrespect teachers or who do not believe in teaching profession is,“ We make a difference. What do you do?”

A note to everyone who visits this blog: Stay away from it if you don't have anything to comment but do not use it as a thrash can to dump in nonsense

2007-04-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

After a long time when I return back to my blog I discover that someone had left 6 comments on my last blog Shradhanjali ( An ode). None of the comments written were related to the blog and were nonsensical. I am very infuriated and feel like someone has committed a blasphemy. I feel so because the blog which was littered was dedicated to my uncle whom I revere and love a lot. This is utter disrespect towards others feelings. Seems like the spammers or the hackers ( call them anything ) do not know how to attract audience towards their blogs and use all types of stupid mehtods to get the attention.

This is a sincere plea to everyone:
You don't need to leave any comments if you don't have any.
Dnot visit my blog if it is boring or you don't find anythign interesting in it.
And last but not the least : DO NOT SCRAP ANYTHING WHICH IS NOT RELATED TO THE BLOG. BE RESPECTFUL AND YOU WILL ALSO BE RESPECTED FOR THE SAME.

Shradhanjali ( An ode )

2006-10-31T17:39:00.000-08:00

Babai
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

I was completely shocked and couldn't recover from it for a week. My uncle (Mom’s sister's husband) was no more. When I woke up in the morning, I was surprised to find a missed call from my brother. He usually calls me in the late mornings or evenings. I was surprised to see his number on my cell phone. My heart started pounding. The other day I had talked to my Pinni who informed me of Babai in the hospital. Is it about him or anything else? Why should my brother call me so early? Is something wrong? I had too many questions running through my mind. However, I returned his call and could not control my emotions. Babai was no more. His kidneys, liver and pancreas, all failed at once. I couldn't move from the bed and inspite of Ram consoling me, I was so depressed and could not think of anything else but cry. I wanted to make a quick trip to India but knew I would not be able to make it to have a last glance at him.

I could never even in dreams think of Babai collapsing due to health problems. He was a very health conscious. Babai's day started at 4:00am in the morning. He would go for a walk, return after an hour, have his bath, eat his breakfast, pack his lunch and leave for office by 5:30 am. A strict vegetarian and a teetotaler, he was a great devotee of Sri Shirdi Saibaba. After he was diagnosed with diabetes, he had a very restricted diet. In spite of his busy schedule, he would make it a point to visit my grandma every day, check how she is doing, if needed help someone lese in their family affairs, run errands and make time to relax. He would participate in SHAKHA and was actively involved in a lot of community and social work activities. Every Friday, he had to visit the temple and would fast on that day. However, he never imposed any such rules on my aunt (Pinni) or his kids.

Being the oldest son of his parents, he and my aunt had the responsibility of getting 4 of his sisters married. Both worked hand in hand to get everyone settled and always had room to help others who needed them.

He had a very unique style of socializing which everyone loved. Though he was a person with a serious disposition, he would never shy away from greeting a new person or taking the initiative to talk to them. Slowly through his mild smile and very soft talk, he would build up a rapport. His harmless style of approach won him a lot of friends and acquaintances.

He was very instrumental in helping me reach my goals and in all the important decisions which I made after I came to the US. It was a routine for me to make to make a call home and a call to my Pinni and Babai every weekend. Though he did not have much to talk about, Babai, like my dad used to enquire a lot about what I was doing, the people, climate, living conditions and everything about the US. He wanted to make a trip to the US to visit us. But it is unfortunate that he left the earth in his fifties.

I hope to follow his path and will try to inculcate his ideals of helping everyone in need, being focused, sticking to my roots and following a simplistic lifestyle. I pray to God to help his soul rest in peace.

Though he is not physically present, his impeccable nature has made him immortal. He will always remain amidst us.

Profile Lake

2006-10-31T16:41:00.000-08:00

profilelake
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

My husband and a couple of our friends visited the White mountains in New Hampshire. We got onto the trail of the white mountains which was a very easy and fun filled walk. There were quite a few interesting sites around the white mountains of which I was completely enchanted by the " Profile lake". It was a very peaceful place ( though located just off a highway) which dragged you into it's serenity. As you can see in the pciture, not only me, but everyone who visits the lake would like to sit there and spend some time staring into the distant hills, splashing some water around and taking in the fresh breeze.
I couldn't resisit myself from taking this picture of our group, who were hypnotized by the lake's calm waters. I love this snap a lot as it had a lot of depth in it:)

The never ending chase

2006-10-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

It’s been long since I blogged or even had a look at the other fellow bloggers work. It would be silly to say that I was very busy but I cannot say that I was lazy either. A lot of transitions and adjustments took place in the past 3 months. A lot of issues needed to be taken care of. I had to focus on many personal and professional components of my life. At times everything looked like an ordeal and at times, I felt I exaggerated the situations. My confidence dwindled and I got lost. But as usual, got up from where I fell, wiped the dust, forgot the pain and continued my chase.

A chase, which is never ending and that keeps evolving my personality. Constant analysis of my thoughts, constant evaluation of what makes me happy or worried, constant rethinking of how to fix situations around me. Seems like a never ending task. However, sometimes I do feel I have made a lot of progress. But at times, I also feel I shouldn’t have to redo everything since I already knew how to do it right the first place. I was just meandering and then getting back to where I should have been in the first place.

I think it’s all a process of learning. A process wherein you repeat your mistakes, make new ones and use your old solutions to solve them.

A lazy transition

2006-08-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

I feel so terrible when I realize how lazy I am. Though I am not much an outdoor person, I do like to be mobile and always engrossed in something. But it is an irony that though, I hate being lazy, I am most of the times doing much less than I can. Of late things have been moving at a very slow pace for me. Making arrangements to relocate to MA was not that tedious a task but a very nagging and boring experience. I had been busy packing up my stuff, cleaning up my apartment and making plans to move to MA. I was stuck in my apartment all day. My eating and sleeping habits changed. I ate two times a day and slept at 4:00 am in the morning. Glued to my laptop, I would keep searching for jobs, checking my emails every 5 minutes, working on packing off my stuff, calling friends to donate off my belongings and then watching the news on T.V. The only fun thing was talking to my hubby on the phone who would call me every now and then. The whole day I would feel soooooooo lazzzzzzzzzzzzzy. While weighing my baggage I found out that I gained 10 extra pounds, which made me feel more miserable. After few hours of research, Found out that I need to consume only 1200 calories everyday and burn more calories to reduce my weight. Well, this helped me to get over my laziness as I started working out. I felt much better and was glad to see my tummy flatten a bit.

Apart from the above I was making plans A and B to dispose off (or rather donate) all my belongings. I was really amazed at the stuff I accumulated in 11 months. Though I maintain a very simple and Spartan lifestyle, I was really surprised at the number of things I accumulated. Gosh! I gave away a small truckload of stuff and I still had some left in my apartment for my neighbor. I had packed 7 boxes and mailed them to MA. My checking baggages were 15 oz. overweight and my back with my heavy backpack. I made sure not to open my stroller as I had stuffed in a lot of things and it would not close if I opened it.
So the last few days I had some more activity and I was glad for not being stationary. However, after I checked in at the airport, I started feeling bored and lazzy again. Oh how I wanted to get rid of it. I took out my Ipod to listen to some songs, but that did not last for a long time. Then I decided to visit a nearby store with all sort of fancy candies. I was lured but my calorie chart shooed me off from buying anything.

At last after the 6 and half hour journey, I landed in Manchester. I was so relieved to see my husband. I liked the cool weather of New Hampshire. After arriving in MA, I was able to make it to some interviews, and be busy a couple of days. The rest of the days, I still feel lazy. Though I do engross myself in cleaning up the place, cooking new recopies, watching the latest on Middle East crisis and checking my mails, I feel so lazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy and boring.

I have been making plans to visit the gym and again work on my weight but I am soooooooo lazzzzzzzzzzzy. Well, it's time I do something. I am going to break the ice today and make sure I become more organized.

Lakshmi puja

2006-07-15T01:34:00.000-07:00

lakshmi puja
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Today was the 11th Friday of Lakshmi puja. I started the puja in April and have been religiously performing it on Fridays except during the time of emergencies. Today was the culmination of the 11days' prayers. Interestingly enough it's been exactly a month since me and Ram got married :). It was quite exciting for me and I was looking forward to perfromign the vrath.

Well, this is not the first time that I have done something like this. Since my childhood, it was necessary for us to visit temple, learn some slokas and perform puja. We always found peace and solace in praying, following certain rituals and chanting the hymns.

There was something magical about the whole experience. There were times when I used to read "The Bhagavad-Gita" at least thrice a week. It surely made me feel so calm from within and taught me to be more dedicated to my work, detached and also about inner strength. I am still not certain whether it is psychological or whether there really exists an eternal power that keeps rescuing us whenever needed. But most often, and many instances in my life have reinforced my beliefs in the eternal power, some supernatural force which helps you when you cry out for help.

Anyways, I digress! Coming to the puja, I was really happy the way I did it. As usual, I got up in the morning but was very reluctant to take a bath. I was glued to my laptop for some time and then started cleaning up some stuff. I started cooking at 2:00pm. I had already decided to make 5 dishes for prasadam. I made Pramannam (jaggery rice), Daddojanam (yogurt rice), Pulihora (tamarind rice), Kheer (with vermicelli) and Fruit salad. I finished cooking by 5:30pm, had a bath again and went to do some last minute shopping. I got some yogurt, bananas and honey for "panchamrutham".

Panchamrutham is a mixture of honey, bananas, yogurt, milk and sugar all mixed to do abhishekam (holy bath). My mother-in-law had presented me with a Lakshmi idol and I decided to perform abhishekam to Goddess Lakshmi's idol. It took me around 45 minutes to arrange everything. I spread a cloth and then spread a red cloth on it. On the red cloth I spread some rice, placed a copper container with water. On it, I placed a small bowl with my gold earrings. I had the photo of Goddess Lakshmi. I cleaned it and decorated with sandalwood and vermilion dots. After lighting the diya with ghee and sesame oil, I went ahead and performed abhishekam. In between I had to stop cos my itunes started playing filmi songs instead of the slokas. II had to reset it and got back to my ritual. I was disturbed by a couple of phone calls from my friends but after that I had no problem performing the puja.

First you have to pray to Lakshmi and then her different avtaars. After that you need to chant her 108 names called ashtotharam. While chanting the names, it is good to sprinkle rice or vermilion or kumkum as Indians call it. As soon as you are done chanting her names, we have to recite her sthotram or hymns. Later we read a story from the book about her miracles and then do the arthi.

I had very few visitors but was happy for the ones who came. After the puja I broke the fast by eating the offerings to the Goddess called prasadam. I was so happy that everything turned out so good. In fact it was really yummy.

Overall everything went well. I recommend this puja to everyone who has some unwanted wishes to be fulfilled.

Swayampaakam: Carrot spring onions fry

2006-07-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

carrot curry
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

In telugu "swayampaakam" means a recipe which you create; your original stuff. Recently I have been browsing through a lot of food blogs. In fact one of my fellow bloggers who is a vegan (MC Seitan) has such wonderful recipes on his blog, that I was lured to search on the internet for vegan/veggie recipes. Thanks a lot Seitan. At last your effort to encourage vegetarianism is not going in vain:).

I came across so many blogs with lost of recipes with vivid pictures and decided to blog one of my own creation:). Thanks everyone for the inspiration.

So here goes the recipe:

Carrot spring onions fry

Ingredients:

Carrots (the bunny carrots which are long) 10 (Chop them to thin circles)

Spring onions 4 (Chop them to fine pieces)

Potatoes 1 (chop them to tiny pieces)

Oil 2 tbsp

Pepper 2tsp

Dried red chilies 2 (break each of them into halves)

Mustard&cumin seeds 1tsp

White onions 2 (big ones)

Garlic & ginger paste 1tsp

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Procedure: Pour the oil in the pan and after 3 minutes drop the mustard and cumin seeds along with the dried red chilies. Wait till the seeds start to splatter and then add onions to it. Mix everything in the pan and then add garlic ginger paste and turmeric. Mix everything well till you can see the onions turning yellow and slightly brown. Add the cut potatoes and mix them well. Then add salt to it. After 4 minutes when you can see the potatoes getting the yellow tinge, add the carrots and mix them well. After 2 minutes, add the spring onions. Keep mixing the whole ingredients in the pan while the spring onions soak the oil and reduce in size. After mixing everything thoroughly, add salt to taste, pepper and then close the lid. Allow the whole fry to cook for about 10 minutes on medium flame. In between keep mixing them and make sure to cover the lid.

Serve the fry with chapattis or with rice and rasam. Well, as I am trying to cut off on my carbs, I eat one portion of rice and 4 portions of curry or vegetables. This curry of mine will make you love vegetables and eat less of rice. However, if you are someone who loves spicy food with lots of flavor then this is not the right one for you. But, if you are the one who enjoys mild flavors then this is the right choice. Try it and let me know how it tastes:D

Blog on Learning disabilities and teaching

2006-06-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

In the past 3 years I have gained considerable amount of knowledge in the process of job search and information regarding teaching opportunities in the US. However, it was not easy as I had to struggle through my way finding more about the legal aspects of getting employed in different states and the formalities which I needed to complete.

The fact that you are not a citizen of the US makes things harder for you and you need to research more while looking out for jobs or for pursuing any academic stuff. It is a tedious process and one needs a lot of resources and information. As I am once again going through the process of job search, I have decided to share the information on my other blog http://swapnab.blogspot.com/ for the benefit of other teachers like me.

All my blogs will be focussed on helping aspiring teachers, suggestions on effective teaching practices, laws, regulations in the field of teaching and some of my research articles.
You can also find a direct link to my other blog on the right hand side titled "Learning disabilities".

See you there !

Conspiracy in the wedding mandapam

2006-06-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

smiling brides
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Date: June 14th 2006,
Time: 9:35 am
Venue: Arya Vysya Yuvajana Kalayana Mandapam, Secunderabad,India
Event : Wedding: Swapna weds Ramdhan Yadav

The begginning of a new chapter: After a lot of contemplation, convincing of our elders, rethinking, understanding each other and working together, we were able to tie the knot on June 14th. My nervousness started way ahead of the D-day. I was quite excited. But, more than the excitement, I was very nervous of how things would go on the special day.

Just like my previous visit to India, I had only 3 weeks to settle everything. The first week was spent solving the visa appointment mystery and my visit to Mumbai to get my visa stamped. I had just enough time to distribute invitations and finish my shopping in the second week. By the second week, I already fell sick twice, had got a lot tanned (I was not concerned about it until my relatives and family members kept reminding me how dark and emaciated I looked before my wedding) and exhausted from shopping.
By the third week, I decided to slow down and just relax. It was also time to get ready for one of the most important days of my life. It felt nice to be pampered by my family members and cousins. I was on house arrest for at least 2 days before the wedding. The rituals had already started. At times I complained, got irritated, mocked at them but at the end had to follow them. I was watching my diet closely so that I would not look overweight but still ended up looking a little puffy faced.
I decided to avoid eating sweets and to also visit the doctor. I got medication for my viral infection (this was a direct result of me neglecting my mom's advice and not taking proper care of myself).
I started feeling much better with the medication and was ready for the wedding day. I was very anxious about everything. How am I going to look? Will many people turn up for the wedding? I hope Ram's ok. What if it rains heavily? Well, we still will not be effected but if people don't turn up then? Gosh! everyone will be watching me. How am I supposed to act? Too many questions were running in my mind. Just before the day of the wedding, the groom and his relatives had arrived. That evening the wedding plan was completely changed. I was now expected to arrive at the venue early in the morning on the wedding day for the "pradhanam" and "nalugu" ritual. Though Ram and I belong to the same community and are both Andhrites, our rituals differ slightly due to regional differences. For " pradhanam", the groom's side invites the bride before the wedding, gifts her with saris, cosmetics, flowers, and everything needed for her. After the bride changes her clothes into the ones gifted to her, all the family members come and bless her by dropping rice grains (akshintalu).

After that both the bride and the groom are brought on to the stage for the pre-bath ritual (nalugu). The relatives and family members come on to the couple one by one bless them and apply nalugu (mixture of turmeric, legumes, herbs). As soon as we were done, we had only 30minutes to get ready for the wedding. Gosh! I hardly had time to get dressed up. I was literally running up and down the hall searching for my things, getting myself tensed and making my aunts run all over the place. While, I was still not ready, the priest announced the bride to come down to the mandapam (altar). Oh no! I was still struggling with my sari and confusing my aunt who was trying to help me. My other aunt who is a beautician rushed to me to help me get ready. I was so relieved to see her. "Well, I hope I will look good at least for some time," I said to myself. She started working on my face while my aunt was helping me with the sari. Meanwhile, I yelled at my sister to pack all my stuff. My cousin was trying to search for the hairpins while I was looking for my bindis. My brother rushed in to tell us to hurry up. The photographers followed him and started taking pictures. I was not amused at their sight and paid no attention to them. I am pretty sure they have been in such situations several times and know how to deal with them. They constantly nagged the me and everyone who was helping me out. "Madam just one step back. Good! Ok Madam! Can you please tilt your head slightly? Great! Thanks Madam! I was getting very irritated and was worried about reaching the mandapam as early as possible. It took another 10 minutes for me to be ready when Mallik Uncle (a very good photographer and family friend of ours) came into the scene. " I found a very nice spot to take some pictures. You will look so gorgeous. Trust me. Let us go there," he said in a very excited tone. "Well, uncle I don't have time. The priest is not going to wait so long. I need to hurry down", I said hurriedly wearing my sandals. “Please, I won’t take more than 2 minutes of your time. Believe me. These pictures would come out soo good,” he tried convincing me.

After about 5-8 minutes of stunts, I hurried down the stairs and got onto the mandapam. All the rush and the urge to make it to the altar before time made me forget my fear. I sat down prepared for the priest to chant all the mantras and hymns so that we could tie the knot in the brhamamuhurtam. The priest kept giving me instructions while I followed him closely. It wasn't that difficult a task. However, once I relaxed, I started feeling conscious that I was the center of focus now. Wow! I started feeling nervous and made sure I kept looking down. " Madam, please look this way and tilt your head slightly", I turned my head and saw 4 photographers who were trying to take pictures of me and Ram. Ram was like an obedient kid who posed as they said. I did follow them for some time but soon lost my patience. I had been given instructions (rather warnings) by my mom to be effeminate; not to laugh loudly, not to yell but talk in a low tone to walk slowly, and etc. I was trying really hard to follow them but now I was kind of loosing my control, as I had to pay more attention to the photographers than to the priest. I continued following their directions for another 3 minutes and then gestured one of them to come close to me. " Excuse me Sir, but please can you wait for some time. I will pose for you as long as you want after the wedding, but for now let me do as the priest says", I said to the chief photographer in a very assertive voice. “Ok Madam!”, said the photographer, but one last pose Madam, please! After some time you will look sweaty and might loose your charm," he said, "So please allow us to take some pictures for another 1minute. We promise we wont disturb you later", he pleaded. I agreed. After, that they made sure not to disturb me but moved everyone else around me to get good pictures.
I tried to concentrate on what the priest said and tried to enjoy the whole experience of getting married. To be frank, it was wonderful! I was thanking God every moment. I was so happy and couldn't believe myself. Every now and then I would try to lift my head and smile at the first person I would make eye contact with. Pretty soon my aunt came close to me and whispered something into my ears. " Do not smile. You look very silly when you smile. Be serious. Got it?” she said in a very serious tone. "Ok", I said and tried to fix my eyes down. But why am I not supposed to smile? This is my wedding after all. Am I not supposed to be happy? Gosh! How silly", I complained. Any ways, I was trying real hard to stay composed and not get excited. I controlled my smile by trying to engross my self in staring at the priest’s hands, his mouth and the microphone. Oh no! I couldn't stop smiling. Every time the priest chanted the mantras, he made a funny face and his mouth was so animated. In fact I wanted to laugh loud. He looked so funny. "Nooooo!, I am not supposed to smile", Grrrrr... "Stupid woman! Why are you making a fool of yourself"? I yelled at myself and tried to remain composed. This time, I stared at the rice and the dried coconuts used by the priest and followed whatever he said.

My parents were washing Ram's feet as part of the Kanyadaan ritual. He was facing the audience with his back towards me. I wanted to see him as a groom. 15 minutes later, the priest had asked Ram to turn to my side and had also instructed me to stand. I was so happy to see him and smiled. He smiled back and whispered something. Even before I could remember what he said, I found my sister pressing my shoulders and leaning close to me and warning,” Stop smiling honey, you are supposed to be serious right now. Focus and DO NOT Smile,” She had squeezed my shoulders so hard that it was much easier for me not to smile. I became serious and kept looking down.

So far I was all by myself but now I had a big distraction.” Ram"!. He was so lively on the mandapam and tried everything to make me smile. He pinched me, asked me if I was ok, told me to move a side and kept talking to me. At times he would make faces at me and it was sooooooo hard for me not to smile. Whhhhhaaaat..... Should I do nowwwww.......! Well, I guess I should enjoy my wedding, thinking so I smiled at him and was again in my jovial mood only to be disturbed by my other aunt. Dear, listen to me. Do not keep smiling like a lunatic. You look so foolish right now. People will make fun of you. Just stop smiling. Ok dear. I hope you will try harder this time, " she warned me and left.

Wow! Third warning in a row. Ok fine. I am not going to smile. Even if someone farts, even if someone sneezes, even if hell breaks loose, I am not going to smile. I decided and tried so hard not to. I was getting good at it when the photographers started interfering again and this time instructed me to smile and pose in different ways. Well, now it was difficult for me to smile. Smile? Or not to smile? I could see my aunts and my sister staring at me seriously from a distance. Well, better not to smile. The warning did help me control myself.

However, they were making Ram restless. " Are you Okay? he whispered turning to me. "Yeah ", I said. I made sure my head was down and my lips made very light movements to avoid another warning. " Why are you so serious", he asked me. " You are not supposed to talk right now", I said to him and started ignoring him. I was pretty sure everyones' eyes were on me watching me closely and waiting to warn me another time. When time cam for Ram had to tie the taali (a yellow thread with a turmeric root tied to it which the groom ties around the bride with 3 knots), I was so happy that I could not stop smiling and did not bother about anyone. It was a great feeling and I knew that all this time, I was waiting for this asupicious moment.

Ram was his usual naughty self. After tying the three knots, he made it a point ot pinch me and provoke me. Grr... I stared at him while he gave me a naughty smile. I coouldn't do anythign but remain serious. After that, we had to go through the talambraalu session. This is actually the most fun part of the wedding. The bride and the groom shower each other with rice, confetti and the thermocall balls. Sometimes, it is a competition between the bride and the groom as to who does it faster and who does it more number of times. We both were very excited. Ram's aunt was provoking him to drown me in those heaps while I was preparing myself mentally to topple all her plans. As per the instructions of the priest, Ram showered me with rice. And then it was my turn. The first 3-4 times we had to do it slowly. After that we did not have any rules or regulations. Each side could pour as much as they can. Ram took the opportunity to pour whole 2 heaps of rice on me. I was about to do the same and grabbed a huge heap of rice. But I was unable to life my shoulders. My aunt and my sister held me tightly while my sister came closer to me and whispered," Slowly.... you don't have to follow him. Be like a girl ". Gosh! All my plans are ruined now. AAHHHHHHHHH........ For God's sake, this is my wedding. Am I not supposed to be the way I want to be? I yelled within myself. But needless to say, I just followed what they said. I kept my head down, smiled very less and did everything slowly and in a very delicate way. This continued for a few minutes and then after a while I realized that my aunt and my sister were missing. Well, anyways, everything was over by then. At last, my sister and my aunts succeeded in making me look sober.

After everything was over, we had to be seated on the podium beside each other while everyone came to wish us and give us some gifts:)). Any ways, while I was moving towards my seat, my sister caught me for few minutes. While trying to straighten my bindi and my hair she started talking to me in a low voice, " So what was so funny that made you smile so many times? In spite of the warnings you were smiling ha?," she said mockingly. "Yeah, Ram was trying to make me smile. So what should I do? I was unable to control it", I said. "Ok..Ok Now go and get on to that seat over there," she said brushing off my words.

I was a little upset. So now I have to give an explanation for smiling on my wedding? How crazy is that? Hmm... So stupid. I just don't care what others are thinking. I care about myself...., all these thoughts kept flowing in my mind when I was called to sit beside Ram. I followed what was said. People poured in to bless us. They gave us presents and posed with us for photographs. This time I made sure I smiled at everyone I saw. In between I kept looking for my sister and my aunt to see if they were watching me but no one bothered.
Yahoo! At last... , I thought to myself. Now I was making eye contact with all the guests and talking to them. At times, I spotted my friends and pointed them to Ram. We both smiled at them and invited them to pose for a photo. Slowly I became more excited and started using higher tones for talking, laughing and even calling some of my friends among the guests. Ram did not have any objections but soon I found my sister wandering around me. Oh God.. Give me a break. I said to myself. Why can't a bride be as lively as the groom? "Ha..I don't care. I am just gonna be myself." , I said to myself. Pretty soon, I found myself enjoying meeting people and also getting tired of the whole sitting-standing-smiling-posing thing.
Though I had no one to monitor my boisterous behavior, I had mellowed down by then. "Are you alright? Do you need something to drink or eat?” said Ram in his usual concerned tone. " No thanks, I am ok", I said. Well, all's well that ends well.

At the end of the day I was glad the way things went and continued meeting the guests and posing for pictures.

A lovely trip to Singapore

2006-05-29T23:52:00.000-07:00

For the past few months, I have been really working hard to get tings done some, redone and some still working on it to be done. I was able to straighten up a few things at work and some more personal things. Any ways, I had to make this trip to India, which I did on May 28th, 2006. Considering my traumatic experiences with the cab drivers and the airlines, I decided to ask one of my friends to drop me and purchased a ticket to travel by Singapore Airlines.

When you want something so bad, things always go wrong. Or at least in my case, it does happen. Like a person suffering from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), I checked if I had all the documents, made sure I had switched off the stove, had my keys, made the important calls and finished the last minute cleaning. All was well. We started off to the airport at 9:30pm. We had to deal with a traffic jam and also came across two accidents. However, I did reach before time and everything went on smooth from then onwards. Ravi and Sita wished me good-bye and left. I couldn't understand why but I was very anxious. My heartbeat was normal once the plane took off to a smooth start. Everything was so good except that we had very small meals with a huge gap:)). This was the first time I felt so hungry while flying. Apart from that, I did not have any other problem whatsoever. The best part of my trip was my halt at Singapore. I loved the airport and the country. Singaporeans are very clever and practical in the way they have built their city. The people are very courteous and diplomatic in their approach. Right from the housing to their secular beliefs, everything appealed me.

To top it all, I met this wonderful academician who works with the top-notch companies and the cream of Indian engineers (IITians). We had a great discussion and a fee trip to the island. The cruise on the boat was great. Overall it was a lovely and a memorable trip.

Procastination or waiting for the opportunity ?

2006-05-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

Something or the other always bothers me. Well, I know that I am not a pessimist but neither am I an eternal optimist. However, I have realized that I no longer wait to enjoy the fruits of my labor but continue to keep working on the next goals. Apart from this, I have also observed that I take a long time to make a decision. I keep contemplating upon the same thought over and over, consult several others, think over it again and again and then take a step. For instance, choosing a job or even purchasing a laptop. It took me 4 months to buy one . Of course I am glad for the choice I made but sometimes feel that I should have been more quicker in my action.

Apart from this, I feel I am procastinating while the other times I feel I am just waiting for the right time and the right thing. All this leaves me in a very confused state. For instance buying a car. I have been in LA for the last 8 months and it bothers me that I still don't drive around. Most of the times I feel very uncomfortable and the other times ashamed of myself. Every time I take the bus, something in me reminds me of what I have been avoiding for such a long time. I feel embaressed with my situation and as to why I have been waiting for so long to buy a car. However, when I think over it, I realize that I had done my part but need to put in some more effort and may be there is a time for everything.

Off late, I have noticed that I am moving at a very slow pace when compared to others. The next moment, I feel I have been constantly striving to get things done and in the process I am not even acknowledging my efforts and success. I usually have a rough start with anything I venture and slowly gain efficiency and confidence over it. When I look back, it bothers me that I have been really working hard to get things done. Still, I am not where I want to be and am also not satisfied with what I have achieved. So what’s the problem? Is it because I procrastinate when I have to work or think too much when I can move ahead without a second thought?

I am just baffled by my moves and myself. How do I prioritize my work? How do I analyze what is imminent for me? How do I know what doesn't need too much of thinking but needs prompt action? What will help me realize where I need to stop and think more than once before venturing into it? Too many questions leave me once again in a confused state.

Hmmmm......... Well, I just think this is a phase of growing up. May be my thinking process is in the evolving stage and soon will find its stable stage and also the answers to my questions.

Yahoooo!!! At last I can see the light :)))

2006-04-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Aahh! I feel so relaxed and much better. For some reason, everything is turning out to be positive for me. The most rewarding thing is the attitude of my students. Most of them come from very turbulent backgrounds with no proper guidance or orientation towards the value of education and life. However, that shouldn't be an excuse for them to get away with their silly pranks. Sometimes, the pranks are pretty dangerous and injurious to self and others. Most of them have never learned to respect others, never have been taught to show gratitude for the help and concern others shower on them. They also use words which can hurt others feelings. However, they have heard the adults use those words and have never been corrected to stop using them. No one taught them not to grab anything they come across as theirs'.

As an Educator, I believe we need to inculcate all these moral values in the students. It took me some time but I can see some positive results, which are making me so happy. I can see my students showing more interest in learning. Some of them knock my door asking me to give them some work, which made me jump with happiness. They no longer fear tests and are ready to take more tests in such dry subjects as math. They are learning to respect their peers and their friends and show gratitude towards their mentors. All this makes me feel sooooo happy. Well, these are such small achievements but at last I feel so much better.

For all the struggles that I have gone through the past 8 months I have learned a few good lessons, which include:
Never think that you are a waste because of your failures
You need not be diplomatic. Sometimes if you feel what you are stating is right, then go for it.
Everything is not your fault. You cannot control what is beyond your reach.
Do not hesitate to let others know that they are hurting you.
Leave your work at work. Take a break from it and forget completely about it till you return back to work.
Believe in your instincts.
At the same time do not jump into conclusions.

I wish everything continued the same and these students see the light too :)))

The glass half filled

2006-04-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

After a series miserable events in my life, I cannot but feel depressed dejected and socially withdrawn from every other thing around. However, this doesn’t help much. Life sucks! Everything is so bitter and drab. You come across the world with the enthusiasm to change; you put in your best only to realize that more needs to be done. A lot of loopholes, which you cannot fill in but for sure, you can be blamed for not doing well. All this after going through a lot of hardships? All this for being passionate about a cause? All this for working so hard to realize one's dreams? What have I not done to get here? I chose a very uncommon and a challenging career. Looked out for opportunities to grow in it. Worked to enhance my scope and the areas wherein I can help. Went to graduate school and successfully finished the school year. From a shaky start I ended up with a great GPA at the end of the coursework. Funded my own education and was able to secure a job to realize my dreams and understand what I wanted to do in the future.
Now, Wait a min? What am I complaining about? Am I supposed to complain or be happy for getting what I want? Well, of course every one goes through a lot of hardships. Most of them are a result of some unavoidable situations, which we have to take up. But, this isn't fair. Yes, My job is a huge struggle. Teaching students with emotional disorders is tough. Working in a small town where diversity is a not heard of or people from other communities are not welcome is tough. Working with parents who are biased and who want things their way is a not a new thing. So why is it that I always focus on my obstacles and failures? Why is it that I am not happy about my accomplishments? Why can't I see the glass half full? Why am I always focusing on the empty part of the glass?

Well, I think we all go through the stages of enthusiasm, struggle, pessimism, frustration and giving up and then reconciliation and improvement. I think I am in the last stage. Or at least I want to think so. The fear of failure and the fear of not living up to the expectations is what troubles me the most. However, I am learning that no one is perfect and that is exactly how we learn.
I want to change my attitude and am looking forward for more positive experiences. I am looking out for opportunities wherein I can utilize my skills and grow as a professional and serve the field of disabilities in the best way possible.

Another one in a row

2006-04-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought things would be much better if I changed the shuttle service but I was wrong. I had another bad one while returning from LAX to home. It is really amazing how the drivers function without the necessary networking or technology to help them reach the customers to their destination.

We were about 4 passengers in the shuttle. After I had requested for a shuttle, I got into one wherein the driver hardly maintained any eye contact with the passengers. We had to do a lot of guesswork to know whom he was addressing.

The first passenger was to be dropped at Montebello. It was surprising too find the driver asking the passenger about the freeway to take to reach Montebello. The passenger told him the usual route, which he usually took and helped the driver figured it out. After he had dropped him, he came back to the cab. Looking at three of us announced "Pico Rivera! Now who needs to be dropped there?” " Me”, I said in a very excited tone. "So what is the cross street?” I gave him the address. "Well, that doesn't ring a bell". Now I was baffled. Montebello was just beside Pico Rivera. I was very closely observing some of the main streets and found we had passed Beverly Rd. But, as I rarely traveled that way, I did not want to confuse the driver. "I can take you to Whittier Blvd and ...", "That would be great cos I know the way from there", I exclaimed. "Alright ", he said and started off.

Now, as I do not drive around in LA I wanted to make sure we were going in the right direction. We got onto Whittier Blvd. However, we kept driving through the strange streets of East LA. Whittier Blvd is a very long street, which extends all the way from East LA to Norwalk . I wanted to make sure if we were heading towards the east side of Whittier Blvd. "So are you driving towards Norwalk or LA?", I asked him. "Towards Norwalk. We are heading east", he said. Well, then that should be fine. I said. However, I kept looking out to check if were moving in the right direction. Something made me feel we were not really right. "Do you have a GIS system or any other navigation system to help you out?, " I asked in a very curious voice. No I do not have anything. Now this was a big blow to me. Here I was in a cab wherein the driver wasn't even sure which way to take me. I blamed myself for not being acquainted with the city so well. But what was the necessity for me to do that? I do not drive and also its’ the responsibility of the cab driver to be more acquainted with the streets and how to get around. Any ways, I could see the faint picture of the skyscrapers in LA downtown. Even before I could say anything, I asked the driver to find out if we had any freeways around. "Well, we are heading towards LA . I can see those huge buildings. You said you knew the way. We are heading in the wrong direction. How do we get to your place? This is a mess man," The driver kept showering questions on me.

I was really angry with him. “Well, I paid you to do that for me isn’t it? “, was what I wanted to blurt out. Any ways, I did not want to waste any time. I asked him if he could head towards a freeway most probably I5 or 605. He turned his cab. “May be we should ask someone who is walking down the street”, I said. “Oh leave it. I don’t know how much more time it is going to take for us”, he said in a frustrated tone. Well, I was really angry and mad at him. However, I did not waste any time and tried calling some of my friends. Their phones just kept ringing and then the calls was diverted to their voice mails.

Meanwhile, the driver asked one of the ladies in a car for the 60 freeway. We got onto 60 and he kept looking out for Rosemead Blvd. I had called Ram to find out the exit for 60 freeway. It was confusing for him to track down. After 8-10 min of talk on the phone, I hear a voice from the front seat saying” It’s ok, I will figure it out. Just tell me what the cross street is”, I wasn’t able to hear him and the girl in the front row repeated it to me. Slauson and Rosemead , I said. Pretty soon we were on Rosemead and then took the south exit. After 20 min or so we came closer to Whittier Blvd. The driver was elated and pointed to the signs. Yeah Whittier Blvd,” Well, I knew we could get here if we kept going on Whittier Blvd. However, I wanted to make sure we were heading East and that’s what I asked you”, I said. Well, I got confused because of the roads and so thought we were heading east he said. This time his voice was more calm and relaxed. I felt that he realized his mistake. Any ways, we reached my place in another 10 min. It was raining by then. He got my suitcase out and after complaining for a little time for collectign my charges through my credit card, he left.
This one was not quite an adventure but it might have been to those two teenagers in the cab who were puzzled and anxiously waiting to get home.
I am really surprised at the way the shuttle companies run. I had some knowledge of the roads and the streets, but what about people visiting LA the first time? How do you think they would be able to locate where they need to go?

Lesson learned: Be aware of the major streets and major freeways connecting your destination. It is always good to have the directions printed down before you take the shuttle. Also make sure to ask the driver well in advance if he knows the way.

Beware of the shuttle driver ! This happens in US too

2006-04-09T19:21:00.000-07:00

My previous trip to the airport was quite an adventure. Well, my recent trip was also quite spicy! However this time it was not the air carrier but the shuttle driver who really left me in a shocked and tormented state.

The last time I had to make last minute plans to fly to India. Hence I had to also arrange a shuttle in the last minute which was quite a pain. I wanted to avoid the same mistake this time. I was to visit my fiancé in Dallas for the spring break. I reserved the Red Shuttle http://www.primetimeshuttle.com/
two days in advance. I had a minimum day at school and added to that the last period of the day was my prep. So I had no problem leaving early and on time to the airport.
On Friday, I got a call from the primetime shuttle dept to confirm my reservation. I did confirm the reservation and also requested if they could pick me up at 12:25 instead of 12:00. The person on the phone said he would inform the shuttle driver but he couldn't promise me. That was still fine with me. I had brought my stroller with me so that I can leave from work to the airport.

Time passed very quickly. I had an IEP the other day and had to finish some paper work real quick. I worked on it very swiftly. Meanwhile at 11:50 I got a call from the shuttle driver asking me about my location. I described to him that it was a school. He informed me that he would be there in 10 minutes. I said that was fine and told him to call me back when he was there. Meanwhile I scurried through my paperwork and finished everything in time. I did not get any call. However while getting some of my things done; I kept looking out into the campus for the shuttle. At 12:20pm I get a call from the driver who was complaining that he had been waiting there for me and he would leave if I did not come out. I again asked him where he was and assured I would be out. He informed me that he was near the school. Meanwhile while I was still talking to him, I got a call from his supervisor telling me that his driver has been waiting for quite some time and that I did not show up. I promised him that I would be out in 2 min and asked him to describe the color and the type of shuttle which was waiting out for me. I was unable to see any burgundy colored van which had any wordings like "Red Shuttle" on it. I hurried out with my stroller and handbag and kept looking all over the parking lot. I get another call from the supervisor who informs me that the driver is leaving. I let him know that as promised I was out and had been searching for this shuttle which he had described but found none. While I was still on the phone talking to him, I see a burgundy van coming from the right side of the school. I wave to the driver and he stops. I hurry down the road, cross it and apologize. The driver picked up the stroller in a hurry, dropped it behind and in a strong voice told me to get in and close the door. I do as he said.
After getting in the cab I once again apologize for the confusion and try to ask him as to where he was parked. He tells me that there was no parking space available and so he was parked somewhere else. I was puzzled! The school has a huge parking lot and vehicles could be parked on the roadside too. No wonder I was unable to locate him. Any ways, I was more than glad to get into the cab. Even before I could take a breath of relief, the driver turned to me and in a very strong accent told me that I need to pay him $34.00 for the cab charges. Confused and still trying to understand what he said, I asked him to repeat himself. Hurriedly and in a very angry tone he told me that I need to pay him cash $34.00 for the shuttle charges. Surprised, I reminded him that I had already paid online using my credit card. He told me that the card did not pass through and that I need to pay him so that he can take me to the airport.

I understood his frustration. However, I told him that I would pay him using my debit card once we reach the airport. He demanded that he needed money right away and stopped the shuttle near a gas station which had an ATM. Even before I could talk, he demanded I get down and get the money. He also told me in a harsh voice that he was doing me a favor by stopping me in front of an ATM. Well, I had to get money anyways. I was still confused and was still trying to understand what was going on. However, I did not have any time to waste. I decided to the take the cool man approach of not arguing but giving the person time to cool down and then explaining everything. Meanwhile, I got down the cab, withdrew $100.00 from the ATM (I was charged an extra $1.50 for withdrawing money from the ATM). The driver got into the cab. Then he asked me if I had the money. I assured him that I did. While turning the vehicle, he turned back to me and demanded that I give him $34.00. Now that was the limit of my tolerance. However, I still maintained my cool and told him that I would pay him the moment I got down the shuttle. He was too adamant and kept repeating himself. I showed him the money which I had withdrawn. He was still not happy and continued to harass me. In a very calm but assertive voice I asked him to give me the phone no of his boss. Well, he became more offensive. He raised his voice and did not listen or even allow me to speak. He showed the time and told me that I was too late and I had to pay or else he would leave me there. I still told him I wanted to speak to his supervisor. Now way the guy was going to budge. He threatened me that if I did not give him the money he would drop me there. Well, that was more than I could ask for. I said "Ok" in a firm voice . My Ok sounded like a victory for him and he blushed. But the moment I reached for the door knob, he became very ferocious and swearing in his native language pulled open his driver's door, shouting swear words, took my stroller out and left me at the gas station.

I panicked. I was really scared about missing my flight. This was not just a pleasure trip to my fiancé’s place. We had also planned to drive to the Arizona Mexico border to get my visa stamped. I was aghast at his behavior. I did not have any time to waste. Even before I knew I had dialed the number to the local taxi service. The guy was still halted at the gas station. I had to literally struggle processing too many things. Confused, terrified and also in a very stressful state, I asked for the address of the gas station and was confusing the local taxi cab operator with the address. Somehow the people at the gas station helped me and I was assured of the taxi in a wait time of 5 -15 minutes. While I was still on the phone and figuring out the address, the shuttle driver hurriedly approached me. Interrupting my call, he grabbed my stroller and told me that his supervisor has confirmed that my card passed through and that I need to get into the cab. I could not handle it any more. I just screamed at him saying "I am not going to get into your taxi". "Ok fine then ," he said. Arrogant fellow did not even apologize for his rudeness. He fled the scene. Meanwhile while waiting for the other taxi I tried contacting the customer service for the Red shuttle. Unfortunately the line was engaged for more than 10 min. I gave up. I was really exhausted waiting for the taxi. It was more because of the anxiety.

I kept looking out for it and kept checking about the whereabouts of the taxi. The faint green and yellow car from a distance made me feel better. I found myself sweating at that time. It was more out of relief than anything else. The driver noticed me waving and stopped right in front of me. He greeted me. Wasting no more time, I set my stroller on the back seat and thanked the driver for coming down. I also said a few kind words about the taxi service. He was happy with my comments. I did not want to take any more chances after my bitter experience and thought making the driver feel better would surely help me getting to the air port early. We started off from the gas station at 12:54 pm. On the way I tried to breathe more slowly and relax. The driver assured me that the traffic wasn't a problem at that time of the day and we would reach way ahead of time. As promised, we reached the airport by 1:25pm. I had to pay $57.00. Glad to reach my destination I handed over $60.00 to him and thanked him. He picked up my stroller from the taxi and wished me a safe trip. I thanked him and headed to the entrance.

It was a real learning experience for me. After I reached Dallas, I couldn't stop myself from narrating the whole incident to Ram. He was very angry and told me to call the customer service immediately. Again it was a long wait but at last I could get hold of someone. The person noted down the complaint and informed me that action would be taken against the driver. He also told me to write a letter to the president narrating everything that had happened. What surprised me was the fact that the company already had a lot of problems from the same driver and the fellow still continued to repeat himself.

The whole incident was a very bad experience. I wanted to share this with everyone and anyone who boards the shuttle or any other cab services and warn them.

Facing the reality

2006-04-08T04:45:00.000-07:00

After all the ups and downs and the struggles which I have been going through, I have realized that everything happens for a cause. Moreover, one needs to be patient and wait for the results and not stress them to reach their goal. As an aspiring special educator, I entered the field with lots of enthusiasm and motivation to bring a lot of changes. However, it did not take me long to understand that my resources were limited and that I was tied down by some forces which were not under my control.

Through experiences I also learned that my job is not a cake walk. Considering my background, my ethics and the cultural differences, it was hard for me to face students who did not value education and who needed to be bribed to do their work. However, a couple of experienced teachers opened my eyes. Constant feedback and reassuring and reflection have helped me to reach an understanding.

Strugggle for existance

2006-03-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

The past few months have been very stressful for me. Proffessionally as well as personally I have been through a very rough patch. There had been days when I was just numb and dumbfounded. Many a times I questioned my existance, struggled to understand why I was so depressed and unable to cope up with all the chaos. Teaching is not just a career but a passion for me. I believe that I can make the life of budding young adults better by imparting the best of my knowledge and utilising my skills for their betterment. However, I was dissapointed with how things were turning out for me. I was given a class of seven students labelled as emotionally disturbed. As an aspiring Special Educator, I took it as a challenge and thought I would be able to make some sense in their lives. But it took me some time to realize that the class was too much for me to handle. The kids had gone out of control and not enough structure in the system to control the student's behaviors and help them.

The sad part was that I was ignorant and kept blaming myself for being ignorant. Howver there were some factors beyond my control which also contributed to my downfall. However, I never gave up and kept working towards seeking some inner peace those remote successes which I could have. Right now I am in a situation of crisis wherein I am unable to console myself. I am at the verge of depleting my inner motivation to continue on my task. Seems I am just waiting for the break which would soothe me and rekindle the purpose of my life.

AI747

2006-01-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

interiorplane, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

I was able to take the picture of the damaged part of the plane interior while flying on Monday , December 19th, 2005

Adventurous trip

2006-01-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

I had a very adventurous vacation. Took an impulsive decision to visit India, boarded the Air India Plane and survived a plane crash and took almost 5 days to reach Hyderabad. Though it was an impulsive decision and I had to go through many pains and problems before during and after my visit it was still a worthwhile trip. Well, firstly I wasn't sure to visit my parents during this winter break. I had only three weeks of break which I knew wasn’t sufficient enough for me. Moreover, I was furious about the air fares and also of getting back home more homesick. However, I gave myself some time to think the pros and cons of visiting and then decided to go for it. It seemed that I was subconsciously preparing myself to leave to India. Anyhow, purchased the ticket on Monday and boarder the Air India flight 747 on December 19th 2005 leaving LAX. However, the plane's rear tire caught fire and so the plane was redirected to the ocean to dump the fuel and landed back in LAX. It was a nightmare. The officials were all puzzled while the passengers were all furious and baffled. The AI officials did not have any plans and mismanaged the whole scene. They provided some snacks for the passengers and asked them to pick up their I-94 and their luggage which was in a small domestic baggage checkout center. Everyone had to sort out their huge baggage and then head out where the shuttle was waiting to take us to Hilton. After reaching Hilton, only a few could get accomodation while the others were relocated to some other place. The ones who wished too return home were told too inform the officials of their phone nos which were never used to contact them. I decided to stay in the hotel than return back to my apartment which is about 45 min drive from the airport. Moreover, decided to stay with the crowd to be on the safer side. Any ways I was able to get a room for myself and volunteered to share it with two more girls who did not have any accomodation.

The next day a very diplomatic representative of Air India showed up who did not have any answer about our departure or about refunding our money . Most of them tried contacting other airlines to find if there were any seats vacant. Some of them who were old and had kids were provided seating in the next day flight on December 20. We received the information that on Wednesday all the remaining passengers of 747 would be provided accomodation along with the other passengers reserved to fly on that day. Sad that I would be missing two more days of my vacation, I tried to find out if there was any possibility for me to go on the AI flight on Tuesday. But there was no way I could get on to the plane. Neither was I old, nor do I have any kids. Any ways, I came to an understanding that I would be flying home on Tuesday . Meanwhile I wanted to confirm if AI would be providing a connecting flight to me from Delhi. I had a connecting flight from Delhi to Hyderabad through Sahara Airlines and inquired if AI would provide me with the same on Wednesday. The person informed me that I needed to check the same with Sahara, which I felt was ridiculous. I couldn't stop myself from raising my voice and asking them of proper arrangements for me to get to Hyderabad. This helped me to secure a seat on the Tuesday flight. I was very excited to know that I would be boarding the plane on Tuesday. After we reached the airport, waited for more than 2 hours at the counter, got new tickets and boarded the plane, we had to sit in the hot machine for more than 4 hours. At last the pilot declared that the flight had some technical problems and so the engine wouldn't start. We all had to get down the plane, which was hot like a furnace.

The manager informed us that the flight was not cancelled but delayed. He lodged us at Radisson and promised that they needed about 10 hours to repair the plane. They also informed us that we would be informed of the flight timings. All of us got too Radisson hotel and stayed there for the night. We had to stand in a huge queue in front of the lobby till early morning (3:00 am) to get a room which I shared with a co passenger Priya.

After we woke up in the morning we tried to gather the latest news and came to know that everyone were supposed to be at the airport by 11:00a.m. We tried to hurry up and have our breakfast while an ABCNews spokesowman approached me for an interview. I was very thrilled to give an interview on ABC which unfortunately I could not watch. After that we all rushed to the airport only to find the counters still closed. We had to wait for a while when the counters opened. Finally we got our tickets and checked in. The flight which was supposed to take of at approximately 2:45 pm did not take off till somewhere around 6:00pm. It was a very long and frustrating wait which made me feel frustrated. Visiting India was then like a dream to me. After all the hustle bustle, shouting, cursing the plane took off and we landed in Mumbai airport only to wait for an hour at the baggage claiming counter. Meanwhile, we missed our flight to Hyderabad. So we were again lodged in a hotel in Mumbai and informed to be back at the airport by 2:00pm to board the Hyderabad flight for 4:30pm. I was able to freshen up, have my breakfast and rest a little bit before I headed back to the airport. At the airport another surprise awaited us. The flight for 4:30pm had been re-scheduled to 22:55pm. This annoyed the whole lot of us. However, this was not uncommon to the Air India staff. Many of the flights have been re scheduled and cancelled on that day due to weather related issues. However, no one could explain why the Hyderabad flight was delayed when the weather in Mumbai and Hyderabad was perfect.
Any ways, we had to wait for another 11 hours in the airport and then boarded the AI flight to Hyderabad. I couldn't stop myself from smiling while boarding the airplane. There were some problems in the flight regarding the passengers who wanted too swap their places on the plane which annoyed me and also caused some delay. Any ways, I reached Begumpet safe and sound. I stopped calling my parents and informing them off my arrival and decided to call them once I was in Hyderabad. Luckily my friends updated my flight timings and I was able to meet my father at the airport.

Any ways, though it was a tiring journey, it was worth it. I met my near and dear ones who complained of my weight, color, and everything they could possibly think of. I had a wonderful time with my nephews who were a lot of work.
However, I also spent some time running to the banks several times and getting frustrated with the roads and the traffic in Hyderabad. Overall, it was nice to meet my friends, my old colleagues and my previous teachers. Though I did have tons of things in mind before I landed in India, after I arrived there, I wasn't able to do as much as I thought.

I am glad to have made the trip and survived the difficulties.

A loooong break

2005-12-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

It's been months since I have updated my blog.
Many changes have occcured and I was terribly busy with them.

Graduation: I graduated with my Master's degree:). Soo far it is the happiest day of my life . Though I was happy that I could at last wear the gown and the hat which I always dreamt of, the best part of having my loved ones with me. It was fabulous. I had my best buddy come over while my old room mate and my other roomamte's family and friends were there. You know those special occasions when you have all the relatives gather?It was just like that. I got ot walk on the podium and recieve my degree which was soooo fabulous. But more than that I enjoyed the College of Education's graduate ceremony. I was the last to pick up my degree and of course the one to recieve longer period of applause. That was such a special moment. For all the struggles I went through, it was worth it.

Job Search: This was a very tedious but an eye opening task. I had to do a lot of research to find a job. In the begginning was very dissapointed for not getting any responses. Filling out the lengthy applications, sending out recommendation letters and copies of transcripts to all the districts and following up by calling them and waiting ofr their calls, attending jobfairs in different places Oh gosh! it was something. I worked on this for a period of 4 months and the furits started yielding at the end. Four great job offers in my kitty. Oh boy I felt so good about it and chose the one which fitted my interests.

Moving; This was tough . Especially because I hadn't recived the contract from any of the districts which wanted to hire me till August. I had to pressurize them and was waiting for the opportunity to just start moving to the one which I got first.At last I was able to get into one of them and had the opportunity to spend with my friends before relocating to California.

Getting adjusted: New job, new place and new environment. Again , I felt very depressedand overwhelemed with the responsibilities of finding an apartment closer to my work place, setting the classroom, attending the orientation sessions etc. The best part was making new friends and having old ones help me out . I had a very rough time with my class. It is my first experience teaching in the US as a full time employee. I had students who were labelled as emotionally disturbed who had some pretty serious problems. My emotional situation did not improve a bit. After all this hardwork for the past 6 months, I had to continue to keep up my spirit and strivce hard to manage the class. There were many challenges and I had to question my credibility as a teacher. However, my perseverence keeps me going. Right now I am able to manage the class in a better way than before and am hoping things will settle down pretty soon.
However, everyday is a challenge and you learn somethign new about the students and their behaviors. I am still learning and hope to soon use my practical experience in coming up with better strategies for teaching.

Fireworks 2

2005-07-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

fw2, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Some of the fireworks really sparkled my imagination. This one looks like a sea urchin with its extended spines in the dark waters.

FIREWORKS

2005-07-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

firework1, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

It was a feast to our eyes. The weather was also cool and comfortable. Most of the crowd gathered in Iowa citys' City Park to witness the splendor of the fireworks on the independence day.

I was able to capture some of them in my camera.

CEC presentation

2005-05-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

CEC presentation, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

The CEC (Council for Exceptional Children)symposium was held at the University of Iowa.
My presentation was on "Using Cognitive Behavior Management strategies with Students with Behavior Disorders". A great believer of cognitive behavior management strategies, I tried to modify it and use it during my first 8 weeks of student teaching at Grantwood Elementary. The results of the plan were really amazing. Hence I decided to share my intervention plan with the young and enthusisastic professionals at the symposium.

CBM strategies are data based strategies, which help the students to monitor their own behavior, help them make judgments about its appropriateness and to change it as needed (Friend & Bursuck, 2001) More information on CBM check out http://swapnab.blogspot.com

Cultural Diversity Festival

2005-04-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hum saath saath hai, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Aah! at last I was able to download the pictures of the cultural diversity festival and post it on flickr. It took me some time to upload them and some more time to blog them. However, I would like to share the group picture wherein we have some of our team members of the cultural diversity team.

Cultural diversity festival is a unique festival during which people from various countries have the opportunity to display their heritage, cultural treasures to the general crowd. It draws a huge crowd.

We had our own stall wherein we sold some Indian jewellery and food. Henna tatoos was very popular with the crowd.
We also had a polaroid camera to take pictures of people interested in dressing up in Indian costumes.

It was fun and also lot of work. But everything went on well.

Proud to be a UIowan :)

2005-04-02T11:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I came across a link on the University of Iowa homepage wherein the rankings of various schools has been published. It makes me feel great that the College of Education ( Special Education )is ranked 18th among all public and private insitutiosn in the US. Hurray!
For more information follow the link
http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Eournews/2005/april/040105ranking.html
or read the following news:
March 31, 2005
U.S. News Ranks UI Graduate Programs Highly Among Public Universities

According to the latest rankings of graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report, the University of Iowa is making strides toward meeting a primary goal of its Strategic Plan: to become one of the 10 most distinguished public research universities in the nation.

Based on the magazine's rankings for the 2006 edition of its annual "America's Best Graduate Schools," the UI has six top 10 graduate colleges and programs among public universities, and an additional 13 among the top 15 public universities.

Two UI colleges -- the UI College of Law and the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine (in the area of primary care) -- are ranked among the top 10 publics (at No. 7 and No. 10, respectively), while the UI College of Education is ranked No. 15 among publics.

Leading the pack of UI graduate programs and specialties, when compared with other public universities, is the Sociology Specialty of Social Psychology (housed at the UI in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, or CLAS) in the No. 2 spot, the law specialty of International Law in the No. 6 spot, the medicine specialty of Rural Medicine in the No. 7 spot and the engineering specialty of Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering in the No. 10 spot.

All told, 33 UI graduate schools and programs were newly ranked this year as being among the nation's best.

"It is extremely gratifying to see how well our university measures up across the disciplines with other schools, both public and private," UI President David Skorton said. "That we continue to rank highly in so many areas is a credit to the dedicated faculty and staff who make it a priority to provide a quality education at a great value."

UI Executive Vice President and Provost Michael Hogan, who co-chaired the UI Strategic planning process with Senior Vice President and Treasurer Doug True, agreed.

"In light of our recent work on the new UI Strategic Plan and our goal to be among the Top 10 public universities in the nation, these new graduate and professional rankings give us important benchmark data," Hogan said. "We are particularly pleased to note that several of our graduate academic programs already are or are approaching Top 10 status among public universities. These rankings measure the effectiveness of our teaching and research missions. The higher the ranking, the better we do in serving our students and the people of the state."

Following are all newly ranked graduate schools, specialties and programs, beginning with the highest rankings. Rankings at the front end are as compared to other public universities. The overall ranking, comparing UI colleges and programs to all public and private universities, is listed subsequently.

Rankings with an asterisk (*) will be included in the print version of "America's Best Graduate Schools 2006." All other ranked programs will be included in an expanded rankings list that will be available online at www.usnews.com beginning Friday, with a paid subscription.

*2. Sociology Specialty of Social Psychology. At the UI the sociology program resides in the CLAS. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 3.)

6. Law Specialty of International Law, tied with the University of Georgia and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 21, tied with the University of Georgia, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and Vanderbilt University.)

*7. Law school overall ranking. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 22, tied with Washington and Lee University)

*7. Medicine Specialty of Rural Medicine, tied with East Tennessee State University. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 7, tied with East Tennessee State University.)

10. Engineering Specialty of Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering, tied with Pennsylvania State University-University Park. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 17, tied with Pennsylvania State University-University Park and Rice University.)

*10. Medicine (Primary Care), tied with the University of Colorado-Denver and Health Sciences Center -- a single entity -- and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 11, tied with Harvard University, the University of Colorado-Denver and Health Sciences Center -- a single entity -- and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.)

11. Education Specialty of Higher Education Administration. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 15)

*11. Political Science, tied with Indiana University-Bloomington, the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Washington. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 25, tied with Indiana University-Bloomington, the University of Texas-Austin, and the University of Washington.) At the UI the Political Science Department resides in the CLAS.

*12. Medicine (Research). (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 28, tied with Boston University.)

12. Medicine Specialty of Family Medicine. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 14, tied with Baylor College of Medicine.)

13. Education Specialty of Counseling/Personnel Services, tied with Michigan State University and SUNY-Albany. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 13, tied with Michigan State University, SUNY-Albany and Columbia University's Teachers College.)

13. Education Specialty of Curriculum and Instruction, tied with Arizona State University's Main Campus and Harvard University. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 16)

13. Education Specialty of Educational Psychology. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 18)

14. Business Specialty of Accounting, tied with the University of Arizona and the University of Virginia. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 27, tied with the University of Arizona and the University of Virginia.)

14. Education Specialty of Secondary Education. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 17)

*15. Education school overall ranking, tied with the University of Florida. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 25)

15. Education Specialty of Elementary Education, tied with the University of Texas-Austin. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 17, tied with Boston College and the University of Texas-Austin)

15. Education Specialty of Special Education. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 18)

15. English (Ph.D.) program overall ranking, tied with Pennsylvania State-University Park and the University of California-Santa Barbara. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 28, tied Pennsylvania State-University Park, the University of California-Santa Barbara, Emory University and Vanderbilt University.)

16. Economics (Ph.D. program), tied with Michigan State University. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 34, tied with Michigan State University.) At the UI, the economics program resides in the Henry B. Tippie College of Business.

*16. Pharmacy (Pharm.D. program), tied with the University at Buffalo-SUNY, the University of Kansas and the University of Tennessee-Memphis. (Ranked among all public and private graduate programs: 17, tied with the University at Buffalo-SUNY, the University of Kansas and the University of Tennessee-Memphis.)

17. History (Ph.D.) program overall ranking, tied with the College of William and Mary, the University of California-Irvine, UC-San Diego, and UC-Santa Barbara. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 32, tied with College of William and Mary, the University of California-Irvine, UC-San Diego, UC-Santa Barbara, Georgetown University and the University of Notre Dame.)

*18. Business school overall ranking, tied with Penn State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 37, tied with Penn State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.)

19. Engineering Specialty of Biomedical/Bioengineering, tied with North Carolina State University, the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the University of California-Irvine and the University of California-Los Angeles. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 40, tied with North Carolina State University, the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the University of California-Irvine, the University of California-Los Angeles and Yale University.)

20. Education Specialty of Psychology (at the UI this resides in the College of Education Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations), tied with Ohio State University, Penn State-University Park, Penn State-University Park's Program in Human Development and Family Studies, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 36, tied with Ohio State University, Penn State-University Park, Penn State-University Park's Program in Human Development and Family Studies, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, New York University, Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis.)

25. Psychology (Ph.D. program, based at the UI in the CLAS), tied with Arizona State, University of California-Davis, UC-Irvine, UC-Santa Barbara and the University of Oregon. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 47, tied with Arizona State, University of California-Davis, UC-Irvine, UC-Santa Barbara, University of Oregon, Emory University and the University of Rochester.)

25. Engineering Specialty of Civil Engineering, tied with Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and the University of Virginia. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 39, tied with Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and the University of Virginia.)

28. Engineering Specialty of Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering, tied with the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Louisville. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 37, tied with the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Louisville.)

30. Engineering Specialty of Computer Engineering, tied with the University of Utah. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 49, tied with Case Western Reserve University and the University of Utah.)

30. Engineering Specialty of Electrical/Electronic/Communications, tied with Auburn University, Colorado State University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Utah and Washington State University. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 55, tied with Auburn University, Colorado State University, Lehigh University, Polytechnic University, Syracuse University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Utah and Washington State University.)

31. Engineering school overall ranking, tied with the University at Buffalo-SUNY. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 56, tied with the University at Buffalo-SUNY.)

32. Engineering Specialty of Mechanical Engineering, tied with Michigan Technological University, Naval Postgraduate School, University at Buffalo-SUNY and the University of Connecticut. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 52, tied with Dartmouth College, Drexel University, Michigan Technological University, Naval Postgraduate School, University at Buffalo-SUNY, University of Connecticut and Vanderbilt University.)

35. Engineering Specialty of Chemical Engineering, tied with Colorado State University, Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge, the University of California-Irvine and the University of Illinois-Chicago. (Ranking among all public and private graduate programs: 55, tied with Auburn University, Colorado State University, Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge, the University of California-Irvine and the University of Illinois-Chicago.)

Featured in the online edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" only will be deeper rankings of schools and programs that didn't make it into the print edition of the guide.

The U.S.News website also carries an expanded rankings list that includes programs ranked in previous years. The UI programs, ranked against public and private schools, are:

1. Nursing Service Administration (2003 ranking)

1. Speech-Language Pathology (master's, 2003 ranking).

2. Audiology master's/doctorate (2003 ranking). At the UI, the audiology program resides in the CLAS.

2. Nursing Specialties-Gerontological/Geriatric (2003 ranking)

2. Printmaking (2003 ranking)

2. Physician Assistant (masters, 2003 ranking)

5. Physical Therapy master's/doctorate (2003 ranking)) At the UI, the physical therapy program is part of the Division of Associated Medical Sciences in the UI Carver College of Medicine.

7. Paleontology (doctoral program, 2000 ranking)

8. Nursing (masters, 2003 ranking)

10. Health Services Administration (master's, 2003 ranking)

10. Fine Arts (master's, 2003 ranking)

11. Nursing Specialty of Nurse Practitioner: Pediatric (2003 ranking)

15. Clinical Psychology doctorate (2003 ranking). At the UI, the clinical psychology program resides in the department of psychology in the CLAS.

18. Fine Arts Specialties: Painting/Drawing (2003 ranking)

18. Public Health (master's/doctorate) (2003 ranking)

25. Nursing: Anesthesia (master's, 2003 ranking)

45. Biological Sciences (2002 ranking)

46. Social Work (master's, 2003 ranking)

55. Mathematics (2002 ranking)

58. Chemistry (2002 ranking)

59. Applied Mathematics (2002 ranking)

60. Computer Science (2002 ranking)

61. Physics (2002 ranking)

The full, print edition of the annual guide will be available at newsstands Monday, April 4, as will the April 11 edition of "U.S.News & World Report," which will carry excerpts from the full guide.

All of the information in the printed guide, plus deeper rankings that are available only online, can also be found at http://www.usnews.com. A subscription is required to access all of the data.

Each year, U.S.News ranks graduate programs in the areas of business, education, engineering, law and medicine. These rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research, and students. For the rankings in all five areas, indicator and opinion data come from surveys of more than 1,000 programs and nearly 9,100 academics and other professionals.

U.S. News first published a reputation-only graduate school ranking in 1987. The annual America's Best Graduate Schools report began in 1990

The summary

2005-04-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

Recent happenings and conversations have triggered my thought process once again. After a long gap I am once again allowing my inner sense to speak out. For many days I have been swamped with too much of work which shut my reflective thought processes or geared them towards thinking on course work,assignments and other stuff which offlate have been the most pertinant issues for me. However, some times certain events or messages trigger my introspection and force me to spend time reflecting on my experiences.

I tried to do everything possible by me and keep things going. Bascially I am trying to keep myself balanced.Most of the times I even try to move away from incidents which are challenging or which I cannot tolerate. And if I need to enter in a situation which is challenging then I try to learn to accommodate myself to the new situation. Everything which I do is based on my comfort level. I think this principle applies to everyone including animals, plants or for that matter all living creatures. We all seek comfort. We all want to pamper ourselves. Be it in form of food, sleep, sexual satisfaction or even pursuit of higher studies and self actualization, we seek different methods to achieve that balance.

All the societal norms and rituals of a particular society are based on their comfort level. I avoid crowded situations and talking to strangers because, I am not used to or beacause I am introvert or whatever I might name but the summary is that it is not within my “comfort level”. So the summary of the whole story is that every living creature on the earth tries to reach a state of “comfort”. They continue to strive or reach that level. In case they are not able to achieve that state they escape or move away and adapt themselves to another state wherein they are pretty comfortable in.

Ms Miller

2005-03-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

millerpic, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

A true dedicated teacher who has been working in Grantwood since 1968.
She gave me a ride to the school everyday . As soon as we got down the car, her students would swarm around us sharing some exciting news.
She was very jovial and fun loving woman with a real funny tone of speaking.

Thanks for all the help Ms Miller. I appreciate it:).

Grantwood

2005-03-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

Thursday March 10 was my last day at Grantwood and I really enjoyed student teaching. The kids were extraordinarily sharp for the class. They had their own strengths and their needs and knew how to get what they wanted. Well, every thing started out in a very pleasant way fro me. The kids were very polite and complacent for the first week. The second week I was old to them and then they turned out a new leaf (well, as per the teacher the honey moon was over). They challenged me with their behaviors and often made me feel useless and worthless. As my friend Mary puts in these âsmall little biddy thingsâ caused me the most tension of all. I came up with new strategies for teaching and controlling behavior and to a great extent every thing was fine.
However we had another three new kids added to our class and this was another new challenge. The cooperating teacher herself was apprehensive as to how things would turn.
However it was my responsibility to calm them and prove myself.
They put me through several tests. They literally made me go through a period of self- realization, self- evaluation. I was now able to be more assertive, more precise in my directions and improved my skills in problem solving.
Well, all the above terms seemed to be real great one right? But believe me, I really had gone through all these in my 8 weeks of student teaching and then was relieved to have finished a part of my assignment:)( You see, I am working for a grade too).
Over all the story ended well.
Now I am looking forward to an exciting experience at West Branch Middle school. Will update about this interesting place as soon as I can.

Apergers syndrome not Asparagus:)

2005-02-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

I met Sneh on my way to the school. We haven't met since long time and so we both got into a brief chat. We took turns to find out what each one was doing. She was excited to introduce her husband to me while I was excited to share about my student teaching with her. Our class is pretty heterogeous wherein we try to work with students who have been identified with specific behavior problems. We also have students who have Aperger's syndrome. As a biology post doc, Sneh could onbly relate the syndrom'es name to Asparagus and wanted to know more about it.
I also thought of sharing my information through my blog. So here we go:

Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger's Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. In spite of the publication of his paper in the 1940's, it wasn't until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was added to the DSM IV and only in the past few years has AS been recognized by professionals and parents.

Individuals with AS can exhibit a variety of characteristics and the disorder can range from mild to severe. Persons with AS show marked deficiencies in social skills, have difficulties with transitions or changes and prefer sameness. They often have obsessive routines and may be preoccupied with a particular subject of interest. They have a great deal of difficulty reading nonverbal cues (body language) and very often the individual with AS has difficulty determining proper body space. Often overly sensitive to sounds, tastes, smells, and sights, the person with AS may prefer soft clothing, certain foods, and be bothered by sounds or lights no one else seems to hear or see. It's important to remember that the person with AS perceives the world very differently. Therefore, many behaviors that seem odd or unusual are due to those neurological differences and not the result of intentional rudeness or bad behavior, and most certainly not the result of "improper parenting".

By definition, those with AS have a normal IQ and many individuals (although not all), exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a specific area. Because of their high degree of functionality and their naiveté, those with AS are often viewed as eccentric or odd and can easily become victims of teasing and bullying. While language development seems, on the surface, normal, individuals with AS often have deficits in pragmatics and prosody. Vocabularies may be extraordinarily rich and some children sound like "little professors." However, persons with AS can be extremely literal and have difficulty using language in a social context.

At this time there is a great deal of debate as to exactly where AS fits. It is presently described as an autism spectrum disorder and Uta Frith, in her book AUTISM AND ASPERGER'S SYNDROME, described AS individuals as "having a dash of Autism". Some professionals feel that AS is the same as High Functioning Autism, while others feel that it is better described as a Nonverbal Learning Disability. AS shares many of the characteristics of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder; Not otherwise specified), HFA, and NLD and because it was virtually unknown until a few years ago, many individuals either received an incorrect diagnosis or remained undiagnosed. For example, it is not at all uncommon for a child who was initially diagnosed with ADD or ADHD be re-diagnosed with AS. In addition, some individuals who were originally diagnosed with HFA or PDD-NOS are now being given the AS diagnosis and many individuals have a dual diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism.

Courtesy:http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/aswhatisit.html

Me and Pramila

2005-01-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

IMG_0649, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Some times it is so strange that you just meet once and you still remember that person. You wish to meet that person again and again and there is some magnetism which drags you towards them.
I met Pramila in a fellowship potluck party.I agreed to go to the party to please my former roommate Saweda. There I had met Pramila.
After that meetign it was hard to get in touch. We often promised to but were unable to make it.
At last, last Sunday we were able to meet for a brief time before she could leave Iowa city and go to Boston to study Ministry.

Well, I am neither into Christianity nor am a religious person.But I do consider myself spiritual. I really felt that spiritual touch when I met Pramila last time.

Here is Swapna cheering good bye and all the best to Pramila.

Take care my friend.

More on snowflakes

2005-01-14T15:48:00.000-08:00

snowflake03, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

The conditions of the form of snowflake
Clouds are made up of water vapour and composed of very tiny water droplets. In continental clouds, most droplets are smaller than one of seven hundredth of an inch chay to S.I. unit 0.04 millimetre in diameter. Many people believe that when the temperature gets below 0Â°C, the water will freeze. However, it is not always the case. Most scientists believe that the basic process is like the following.

Normally, water droplets will not stick with each other, unless there are some conditions satisfied. First of all, the temperature of the atmosphere is around the freezing temperature of water which is 0Â°C. However, pure water droplets will not automatically condense in such temperature. It is because water droplets do not contain a special kind of particle, which is the second condition, called a condensation nucleus. Most of the freezing nuclei are at about -10Â°C and allow the cloud droplets to condense around them. In the sky, if water droplets freeze, they must need something to stick to. Dust is the material that is the easiest found in the atmosphere. Smog, or even bacteria, can act as the freezing nuclei too.

A group of Soviet scientists did a research and their results and confirmed the above explanation. They used aircrafts to release man-made particles made of dust in the sky. Then they collected and measured the ice nuclei (freezing nuclei). It showed that in the presence of those man-made particles, the size of the snow crystal were considerably bigger than natural one.

The process of snowflake formation
When the temperature is below 0Â°C and in the presence of freezing nuclei, the water droplets begin to freeze and become ice crystals. As those water droplets are too tiny to see, many people mistake this process as sublimation, by which the water vapour skips the liquid state and turns directly into ice.

When ice crystals begin to form, water droplets around those ice crystals will freeze and cling with them together. As they continue to grow, they attract more water droplets and expand to form larger sizes. When they join with around 2 to 200 ice crystals, they will become unique shape of snowflakes depending on the condition of the atmosphere.

Snow particles fall at rates ranging from nearly zero for tiny crystals to about a metre per second for a typical snowflake and several times larger for melting snow. When snow crystals strike supercooled droplets, the droplets will immediately freeze onto them. This process, called riming, forms soft particles known as snow pellets or grains. In temperate zones, the melting of snow pellets provides much of the rainfall from cumulus clouds.
When ice crystal grows, it attracts more and more water molecules to form snowflakes. A construction mystery of snowflakes is the average hexagonal shape, which may contain as many as 100 million or more water molecules. In certain conditions, the growing process proceeds in both perfectly horizontal and perpendicular directions, thus building a broader and thicker crystal in hexagonal symmetry. Amazingly, this symmetry is always maintained out when the size is increased.
Growth of Snowflake
When snow forms, the atmosphere is saturated with water vapour and the temperature should be below 0Â°C. Tiny ice crystals begin to form around the freezing nuclei. Then, ice crystals join together and snowflakes are formed. This process is called crystallization. During crystallization, the water molecules will change from liquid state to solid state with their most basic alignment. As the basic form of ice crystals is a hexagonal prism, most ice crystals are six-sided in shape at the beginning. When more water molecules join the ice crystals, they will build up around the first hexagon and maintain the shape of the crystal as it grows.

Although most ice crystals are formed in six-sided symmetry, the crystals can result in many different shapes which depend mostly on temperature. If the temperature is lower than -30Â°C, the ice crystals will form with hexagonal columns. At around -15Â°C, the ice crystals will form with hexagonal plates which are the typical flat snowflakes we see. When the temperature is up to around -5Â°C, needles shaped crystals and many other undetermined shaped crystals appear. As the higher the clouds, the lower the temperature. So in high clouds, six-sided hexagonal columns are more common. Flat hexagonal plate snowflakes are formed in the middle clouds while many different shapes of crystals are formed in the low clouds. However, the real situation is much more complex and the whole picture is still not well understood.

Size of Snowflake
Many people think that snowflakes are of snow faller from the sky and so they think that snowflakes are as large as a snowball. Actually, the term snowflake refers to an individual snow crystal, while snow falling from the sky are called snowballs which include hundreds or even thousands of small snowflakes stuck together. Now, you can imagine how small snowflakes are.

Snow crystals are typically between 0.5 to 3 millimetres in diameter whereas snowflakes are about 10 mm in size. Snowflakes weigh around 1 gram per 3000 to 10000 snowflakes. Some large snowflakes may typically be as large as 200 to 400 mm (0.79 to 1.57 inches), but occasionally some giants may also form. Exceptionally large snowflakes can exceed 500 mm (2 inches) and contain hundreds of individual crystals. For a snowflake to grow to an exceptionally large size, conditions must be perfect. Besides having ideal temperature for stickiness, the winds must not too strong or else the large flakes will break up as they fall.

Snowflakes form when air temperature near the earth's surface is not far from the freezing point. Snows crystals adhere to one another better within this temperature range. At very cold temperatures, snowflakes are uncommon, and snow comprises mainly snow crystals. According to a research, when the temperature is -36Â°C, the average size of snow crystal is 0.017 square millimetres. At -24Â°C the average size is 0.034 square millimetres. At -18Â°C, the average sizes is increased to 0.084 square millimetres. At -6Â°C the average sizes is 0.256 square millimetres. At -3Â°C the average size of snow crystals can be as big as 0.811 square millimetres.

Six-side structure of snowflakes
We know that the hexagonal shape of snow crystals can be classified into two main types: plate-like and column-like. The beautiful snowflakes that we usually see have basic plate-like with 6-side symmetries. They usually form under temperature between -5Â°C to - 20Â°C. The column-like forms include needles or hollow columns. Needle shape crystals form between 0Â°C to -5Â°C while hollow column form below -20Â°C.

If we want to understand why most ice crystals are hexagonal prisms, we should study water molecules first. Water molecules are made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (that is why we sometimes call water H2O). They stick together by a strong bonding called covalent bond.

When water cools to freezing point, the water molecules collide together to form solid ice crystals. They form a bond called a hydrogen bond that is strong enough to stick the two water molecules together. When molecules stick together, they form the most stable arrangement. In water molecules, the most stable arrangement consists of six water molecules forming a hexagonal shape. That is why most ice crystals have 6-side symmetry.

When more water molecules from the surroundings stick to the ice crystals, most of them will stick to the corners of the hexagonal ice crystal plate. It is because the corners are easier to attract water molecules than the edges. So, a snowflake will always grow from its corners.

Uniqueness of Snowflakes
Long time ago, a scientist did a research about snowflakes. He used microscopes to examine the shape of around 5000 snowflakes. To his amazement, he found that no two snowflakes were exactly the same shape. Each snowflake has its own unique pattern.

Scientists tried to solve the mystery of snowflakes. They discovered that snowflakes are extremely sensitive to the change of atmospheric conditions. A small change in temperature or humidity can bring about an abrupt change in the growth pattern of snowflakes. In the atmosphere, the temperature and the humidity are constantly changing. That is why it is difficult to find two snow crystals that are exactly alike.

In fact, the sharpness of snowflakes reflects its growth conditions. For example, when we see a snowflake with plate-like shape and needles-like arms, we can guess that when this snowflake was formed, the temperature was between -5Â°C and - 20Â°C so that a plate-like ball could be generated, and then the temperature got warm to between 0Â°C and -5Â°C for it to get the needle arms. Also, the longer the snowflake drifting in the skies, the more complicated its resulting shape.

For more detailed information just follow the link http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Science/temp-exh/flowers/efj32.htm#section5

Snow Snow everywhere

2005-01-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

flake2, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Iowa City looks like a wonderland. A beautiful town covered with ice. The temperatures are less than minus and everyone complains about the wind chills. However at times you do enjoy the beautiful surroundings. I like it especially when we have very light showers of snowfall. You have all the snow flakes settling on your dark coat which draws your attention. The temperature is also not that low and the snowflakes drag your attention making you feel more warmer and happier. I love the different patterns of snowflakes on my coat and try to examine each of their patterns. Do you know that no single snow flake is the same? Yeah, it is true. Each one has its own unique pattern :).

I came up this interesting link which had lovely patterns of snowflakes.

For all the snowflake lovers here is a wonderful link. Enjoy viewing them:)
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~zhuxj/astro/images/atmosphere/misc/snowflakes/snowflakes030126a.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~zhuxj/astro/html/snowflakes.html&h=263&w=337&sz=25&tbnid=wZBz1UJbdBEJ:&tbnh=89&tbnw=114&start=569&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsnowflakes%26start%3D560%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

Winter blues

2005-01-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

The much feared winter has arrived and believe me as feared earlier it is terribly cold here. You can see white sheets of land everywhere. Everything does look pretty but you hardly enjoy the surroundings and keep complaining of the wind chills.
Last winter started with a very exciting note when I was really eagerly waiting to experience the snowfall. The feeling of experiencing a snowfall was so romantic and exciting. I always loved those beautiful mountains and plains covered with snow on the television and in movies and I always wished to be there experiencing the same. When my roommate warned me of the first snowfall last winter, she told me to be careful while walking and also told me to stay indoors as much as possible. It is going to be bad tomorrow. "Better wear your warmest Jacket and cover yourself as much as possible,” she said. "Wow it's going to snow? Hmm I am surely going to play outside and make a snow man,” I said. "Sure my dear, I can very well understand your excitement. Let me see how long this lasts" said Vaidarbhi with a mischievous smile.

Well, she wasn't wrong. After all that warnings from my roommate and others I decided to stay indoors to enjoy the snowfall. I did wish to go out to make a snow man but was feeling so uncomfortable with the cold weather. However as time passed by, everything became banal and I hardly enjoyed the winter. Moreover the chill winds really used to irritate my skin and make me uncomfortable. I was very anxiously waiting for the summer to arrive.

This is my second winter in Iowa and I am already worried of getting up early in the morning. I just hope this semester passes out very quickly and the winter is not too severe. Meanwhile I met a fresher who just arrived last fall. This is going to be her first winter and I can very well see the excitement in her eyes. I could do nothing but just smile at her. It won’t be long before she starts disliking winter and the snow.

Fear of extinction

2004-12-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

The Tsunami has destroyed many beautiful islands. The huge natural disaster has caused billions worth of loss. Added to it, many anthorpologisits beleive that the Tsunami might have also erased the scanty population of the rare tribes inhabiting the Islands, especially the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
The beautiful and serene islands of Andaman and Nicobar have been devastated.

There are chances that some of the rare tribes living in these islands may have perished due to the tsunami waves that hit large parts of southeast Asia on Sunday, say experts. If not completely wiped out, at least a large number of them may have been killed.
Lying far from mainland India in the Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar islands are home to some of the rarest tribes in the world. The population of these tribes has been falling drastically over the years.
And even as a debate raged whether these tribes should be mixed with the "civilized population" or left to their traditions to preserve their ethnicity, the deadly tsunami struck.
"It's a big loss. It's a loss not just of human lives but also for the study of anthropology," said A K Kalla, head of the anthropology department of Delhi University.
The Andaman Islands are spread over an area of 6,496 sq km. To its north lies Nicobar with an area of 1,831 sq km.The Andamans is separated from the Nicobar by a 145 km wide channel.Known to the Europeans since 7th Century AD, the Andamans consists of 200 islands, while the Nicobar has 19 small islands.
The tribals living here came in first direct contact with the rest of the world when the British occupied the islands in late 19th Century.

The Negrito tribe living in the Andamans are perhaps the most ancient race on the earth. Some of their behaviour resemble those practised in the Stone Age.
The Sentinelese are the most isolated community in the world, while the Great Andamanese tribe is perhaps the smallest community in the world.
The Onges are said to be the happiest looking people of the world and the Jarawas are known for their unpredictable nature.
Efforts to make contact with the Jarawas have been futile. They are very shy people and have stayed away from settlers on the island, says Kalla.

In the Great Nicobar Island are the Shompens. They live a semi-nomadic and primitive life. They camp in difficult and remote terrain on the island, making it difficult to contact them.
The latest Census report says there are 266 to 270 Jarawas, 98to 100 Onges, 150 to 200 Shompen, 200 to 250 Sentinelese, 20,000 Nicobarese and only 40to 45 Great Andamanese.The Andamans is comparatively less affected by the tsunami. Unlike the Nicobarese, the tribes in Andaman live in hilly areas and not near the sea.

The worst-hit are the Car Nicobar and Chawra Islands.
The people of the Nicobarese tribe, which lives here, have Mongoloid features.
Nitin Maurya, a researcher in Delhi University, has done his doctorate on the Nicobarese tribe. He returned from Car Nicobar just six months ago.He says out of the 20,000 people living in Car Nicobar, 12,000 to 14,000 are Nicobarese tribe
"They mainly reside on the periphery of the island. So the casualty obviously is lot more than what the officials are saying. But because the Nicobarese population is quite high, there are chances that lot of them may have survived," said Maurya.
The Nicobarese have been mixing with settlers on the island. They wear clothes like normal people and even come to work in the towns. But they have their own food and traditions.
Sentinelese tribe, which is anthropologically the most important one, is also facing danger. They live on the flat North Sentinel Island. Their population is estimated to be around 100. No exact count is possible as the tribe has remained isolated.
Along with the Nicobarese, the Sentinelese tribe has also been affected by the tsunami.
Kalla says it is difficult to make an assessment of the loss as many people in these tribes remain isolated. No anthropologist has been able to make contact with the Jarawas.
"It is difficult to get the dead bodies from the sea. And we don't have much knowledge about the tribe so it is difficult to say how many of them died," says kalla.
"Even the choppers have not been able to locate people stuck in the islands. The only thing we can trust is the satellite pictures. The pictures show that large parts of the islands have been completely wiped out. It is really sad."
Some experts say the tribes have their own ability to survive such disasters. But Kalla disagrees.
Indigenous methods work, but only in small disasters. This time it would be too much to expect. It happened all of a sudden. One may glorify the tribal culture but one should also be realistic. If people in Chennai and Colombo perished, what do you expect of the tribals?" asked kalla.
The officials in Delhi are waiting for the field report before declaring the total loss of tribal population.
"Officials are now busy with relief work so we have no knowledge of the extent of damage to the tribals," an Anthropological Survey of India official said.
Downplaying the issue, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on Tuesday that the aborigines in Andaman and Nicobar Islands -- Ongi, Sentinel and Jarwa tribes - were safe.
But the major question that remains is of rehabilitation.
Maurya says: "Hardly anything is produced in Car Nicobar. Even vegetables come from Little Andaman Island. Now the situation is such that the officials will have to carry everything from Chennai."
"Government had invested so much in the infrastructure in these islands. Everything has been devastated now. Rehabilitation will be costly."

Cortesy: http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/29tribe.htm

TSUNAMI

2004-12-27T11:28:00.000-08:00

The recent tsunami which hit many counties in South Asia is supposed to be one of the worst calamities of the year 2004. With a magnitude of 9.0, the undersea quake off the coast of Sumatra is the worst for 40 years and the fifth strongest since 1900.

In the Past:
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the highest death toll from a tsunami happened in 1896, when 27,000 people were drowned following an earthquake off the coast of Japan.
One of the most memorable disasters of recent times is Hurricane Mitch, which devastated much of Honduras and Nicaragua in Central America in 1998.
More than 10,000 people were estimated to have been killed and some two million left homeless as the torrential rain caused mudslides that swept away whole villages.
Bangladesh was even harder hit in 1970, when a cyclone killed up to 500,000 people. Winds of up to 230 km/h whipped up massive waves that took away entire villages.
China suffered similar losses when an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.3 almost obliterated the north-eastern city of Tangshan in 1976. The official number of people killed was put at around 250,000, although some said the figure was more like 750,000.
No borders
And almost exactly a year ago, a 6.3 quake devastated the Iranian city of Bam, killing more than 50,000.
China, and indeed Asia as a whole, has had its fair share of natural disasters over the centuries.
Whole communities are left devastated by natural disasters
Shanxi and Henan provinces lost more than 800,000 people when they were hit, in 1556, by one of the worst earthquakes in history.
In 1887, about 900,000 people died when the country's Yellow River burst its banks in the worst-ever recorded flooding.
A volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora on Indonesia's Sumbawa island in 1815 claimed the lives of more than 90,000 people as a blanket of lava and ash covered all around it, leading to agricultural devastation, famine and disease.
And one of the worst monsoons in living memory claimed the lives of 10,000 people in Thailand over the course of three months in 1983. Some 100,000 people contracted waterborne diseases as a result of the storm.
Snow storms, forest fires and avalanches have all proved deadly. A single landslide in Peru in 1970 killed more than 18,000 people in the town of Yungay.
Most of these disasters were isolated to one area or one country. But, as the Asian tsunami has shown, nature knows no borders.
The droughts that swept across sub-Saharan African in the 1980s led to the starvation of an estimated one million people. They are threatening to do the same again. ( courtesy: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4128509.stm

The loss is huge. But let us try our best to help the victims and the organizations involved in relief work.

Visit this link to donate:
http://www.ramdhanyk.com/movabletype/archives/thoughtprocess/001336.html

Fore more ways of donation:
http://www.ramdhanyk.com/movabletype/archives/thoughtprocess/001338.html

http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/

Where lies the problem?

2004-12-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

India's troubling truants: teachers
A new study finds 25 percent of teachers absent on any given day.
By Diana Coulter | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
DELHI – Twice a day, vegetable salesman Kamakhya Singh takes time off to balance his three children on a bike for their school commute only to learn, too often, that the teachers are absent.
"We are poor people, but we want our children to get a good education," says Mr. Singh, who works outside Delhi. "I am not so sure teachers care so much because sometimes my children walk home if no one is instructing them."

For more go to http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1220/p01s03-wosc.html

I was very surprised to find the above article on Indian teachers in an international newsletter. Meanwhile I also came across the same issue in of the discussions on deesha group. Though I wasn’t surprised about the truancy rates of teachers in government schools and the lack of proper resources in such schools, I was surely wondering why it took so long for the critics to notice these facts. Thee study conducted on the truancy rate seems a bit confusing to me. I am doubtful about the reliability of the tests as it shows only one phase of the education system in schools.
As indicated earlier, I am not surprised about the report on the truancy issue of the teachers but am really depressed by the way the schools continue to be run in India. Government schools have earned a very notorious reputation of being understaffed and under maintained. The students who study in these schools literally waste their precious years spending time attending the schools gaining little or no education. I remember my childhood days when most of my elders would ridicule the parents who sent their children to government schools. Even my peers and including me had a biased feeling towards children studying in government schools. It is no surprise that the teachers in these schools do not work hard and are not expected to comply with any standards of teaching. The parents who are least bothered about their wards education or who cannot afford to send them to private schools usually opted for the government schools.
But, as I specified this is the situation in “government” schools and not in private schools.

In India we find a good proportion of private schools catering to the needs of lower middle class to the upper class societies. Though most of the teachers do not have the BEd degree (the licensure for teaching), they are accepted by these schools to teach the students based on their educational qualifications. Most of these teachers work their sweat out for earning meager income with no promotions and no better prospects.
Except for the usual vacations which they enjoy along wit the students, most of them are expected to be very punctual and are not excused for their tardiness or their absenteeism. The reports on salary satisfaction also might be pertaining to that of a teacher employed in a government run school who is paid well in comparison with the teachers working in private schools.
Thus, the research seems to be one sided with not particular mention on the type of schools surveyed. However by the tone of the report it is clear that most of the schools surveyed were government schools in rural areas where the general population still need to be enlightened about the positive outcomes of good education and where and for whom private education is away from their reach.
Moreover the research does not specify if the comparison was only between the Indian government schools and the government run schools in other countries.
The tone of the report seems very hostile towards teachers in general trying to brand everyone as truant, lazy and opportunist which is really very insulting.
The whole issue surely throws light on the poor functioning of the education system in India. Almost all the government schools need a makeover to improve the quality of education. So the problem is not just the teachers but the whole lousy education system in the government run schools where everything has stagnated which has a deleterious effect on the future of those innocent kids attending these schools.

Am I am ethno centrist?

2004-12-20T16:55:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, I have always been fascinated by the varied cultures around the world.
Moreover, after coming to the US, my interest in understanding various cultures has reached to a very interesting stage. Needless to say, I am always trying to understand the fine intricate details of the intra-racial differences and at times am successful in identifying the individuals belonging to a certain race. Apart from the differences, I also try to find some similarities between various cultures and am fascinated by the way we Indians differ from most of the other races. Indians are so unique. Right from the geographical area, to the languages, religions and the cultures, we are a very diverse group. No wonder India is referred to as a subcontinent with so many varied cultures, languages, geographical areas and religions. The differences are even more marked when in the morphological features of individuals from different parts of the country. Comparing ourselves to the Europeans and the Africans, I find our country far more diverse than these two huge continents. The south Indians, are darker while the north Indians are more light skinned. In parts of India (Madhya Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands) we find tribes who resemble people of African origin, while most of the east Indians (Mizoram, Manipal, Nagaland and Assam) has a close resemblance to the mongoloid or the Far East Indians. Apart from the above intra-ethnic differences among Indians, we find some more morphological differences among the south Indians, the north Indians, the West Indians and the east Indians. Why is it so? Why are we so different? The differences cannot be attributed solely to the climatic conditions and I firmly believe that anthropology could give me a better answer to my question.

My whole purpose of delving into these issues is not to fan my “ethnocentrism” but to understand the mysteries of human race. In fact most often I believe that the humans actually originated from the same ancestor and then underwent evolution to adapt themselves. Diversity flavor and makes the life more colorful and more meaningful.
However my recent enthusiasm to know more about the various races around the world has more to do with my inquisitiveness than to identify myself with a particular race.
My quest to learn more about anthropology is to do with my quest for knowledge than with the feeling of ethnocentricism.

My new passion

2004-12-20T16:51:00.000-08:00

I am always interested to know more about the cultures surrounding me. Sometimes I try to analyze the similarities than the differences as it makes me feel more comfortable. Most often I try to draw similarities between various cultures and their customs which again connects back to my theory that most of the cultures have had a single root. However, as time passed by they moved away and adapted as per their new environments but still retained some of their old customs.
Recently my focus has been on understating the similarities between the Mexican and the (East) Indian cultures. The physical features of the Mexicans, their family values, the colorful clothing, the spicy food, everything mystifies me and makes me draw comparisons between the Indian and Mexican culture. Every thing looks so much similar in spite of the countries located far apart on the globe.
Trying go trace the connections between these two cultures, I did some research on the continental drift, the ancient tribes of Mexico, the East Indian and the Native American connections.
There are many contradicting theories which tried to provide some evidence about the origin of the Native Americans who are very closely linked to the Mexicans. But I was unable to find any substantial evidence or confirm with any of the theories I read. Some of the theories confirmed the origin of the Native American tribes to the African tribes while some indicated significant relationship with the Asian tribes. However it was interesting to know about the continental drift which took place thousands of years back. Due to the continental drift, the American continents got separated from the European and African continents. In this process I was able to hit across some really interesting website and am providing the links below. It would be great if any one who reads these blogs comes across the missing link or the distant relationship between the Mexican and the East Indian cultures.

The links:
http://www.viewzone.com/gene.olmec.html
This link explains the traces of Hinduism and the possible connection between the ancient Americans and the Asians

http://www.raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/ancientamerica.htm
The above links gives a completely different perspective of the Olmecs thus contradicting the first link.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/historical.html#anchor4833509
The above link gives a simple and interesting detail on the continental drift.

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/be-ai-ss.pdf
From the above link we can actually learn a lot about the origins of Native Americans to their contemporary life and their culture.

Dangerous drugs

2004-12-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of drugs, which are supposed to have serious side effects when consumed. Most of the developed countries have banned their use. However they continue to be sold at many of the drug stores in India. Please do not consume any of the drugs listed and make sure to spread the message to others also.

ANALGIN:This is a pain-killer. Reason for ban: Bone marrow depression.
Brand name: Novalgin

CISAPRIDE:Acidity, constipation. Reason for ban: irregular heartbeat
Brand name: Ciza, Syspride

DROPERIDOL: Anti-depressant. Reason for ban: Irregular heartbeat.
Brand name: Droperol

FURAZOLIDONE: Antidiarrhoeal. Reason for ban: Cancer.
Brand name: Furoxone, Lomofen

NIMESULIDE: Painkiller, fever. Reason for ban: Liver failure.
Brand name: Nise, Nimulid

NITROFURAZONE: Antibacterial cream. Reason for ban: Cancer.
Brand name: Furacin

PHENOLPHTHALEIN:Laxative. Reason for ban: Cancer.
Brand name: Agarol

PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE: Consumed for cold and cough. Reason for ban: stroke.
Brand name: D'cold, Vicks Action-500

OXYPHENBUTAZONE: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Reason for ban: Bone marrow
depression.
Brand name: Sioril

PIPERAZINE: Used to kill worms in the body. Reason for ban: Nerve damage.
Brand name: Piperazine

QUINIODOCHLOR: Anti-diarrhoeal drug. Reason for ban : Damage to sight.
Brand name: Enteroquinol

The benefits of drinking water

2004-11-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

Amazing! But True!! Drinking 6 glasses of water everyday can help you cure many diseases.
Without spending on medicine, tablets, injections, doctor fees etc., we can stay healthy by just drinking plenty of pure water every day. The following are some of the diseases said to be cured by drinking plenty of water.
1. Headache.
2. Blood Pressure/hyper Tension.
3. Anemia.
4. Rheumatism.
5. General Paralysis.
6. Obesity.
7. Arthritis.
8. Sinusitis.
9. Tachycardia.
10. Giddiness.
11. Cough.
12. Asthma.
13. Bronchitis.
14. Pulmonary Tuberculosis. (T.B)
15. Meningitis.
16. Kidney stones.
17. Urogenital diseases.
18. Hyper acidity.
19. Gastroenteritis.
20. Dysentery.
21. Rectal Piodapse.
22. Constipation.
23. Hostorthobics.
24. Diabetes.
25. Eye diseases.
26. Ophthalmic Hemorrhage & Opthalmia (reddish eye)
27. Irregular Menstruation.
28. Leukemia.
29. Uterine cancer.
30. Breast cancer.
31. Laryngitis.
It is advisable to drink 5 to 6 glasses of water (approx.1.5 liters) early morning after you get up from the bed (without even brushing your teeth). A very famous therapy called Usha Paana Chikitsa has been prescribed to clear our body from all the wastes. According to this therapy, one should consume 1.5 liters of water every morning. The person should not consume anything else-neither drinks nor solid food of any sort for an hour, before and after drinking the water.
3. No alcoholic drinks should be taken the previous night of the therapy.
4. If required, boiled and filtered water may be used for this purpose. As it is impossible to drink 1.5 liters of water at one time, one may drink 4 glasses first and the balance 2 glasses after a gap 2 minutes. Initially one might experience the necessity to urinate 2 to 3 times with in an hour, but will get used to the routine gradually.
By research and experience, the following diseases are observed to be cured with this therapy within the indicated days as below:
Constipation 1 day
Acidity 2 days
Diabetes 7 days
BP & hypertension 4 weeks
Cancer 4 weeks
Pulmonary TB 3 months
It is advised that persons suffering from Arthritis or Rheumatism should practice this therapy thrice a day, i.e., morning, midday and night, 1 hour before meals for 1 week and twice a day subsequently till the disease is cured.
Disclaimer: I received the above information from one of my friends and I am not sure if the above therapy is a well researched one. However, I can for sure vouch the benefits of drinking water. Drinking plenty of water helps us flush the wastes in our body and keep the skins healthy. So to keep healthy it is very necessary to drink plenty of clean (make sure it is clean) drinking water.

Happy Deepavali

2004-11-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Deepavali, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Happy Deepavali
Deepavali, the festival of lights, is one of the important festivals celebrated by hindus across the world.
It represents, life, prosperity and happiness.

I wanted to paint an abstract picture of what Diwali means to me,but ended up doing a symmetrical collage.

For every one out there "HAPPY DEEPAVALI"

Drama in real life :)

2004-11-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

The Hungama :
So at last the much awaited Diwali night arrived. I had asked Asmita to reserve a ticket for attending it. The Diwali event which is organized by the India Student Association (ISA) every year showcases the Indian culture. Many of the university students, Indians in the neighboring towns and non-Indians share their talents by performing at the event. Not only Indians, but other internationals also love to attend it.
Well, who would not like to be in their best outfit, enjoy meeting new people, have delicious Indian food and savor the cultural events rich in Bollywood masala garnished with authentic classical music and dance? Thus, everyone was eagerly awaiting for the colorful evening.

The rush hour:
After volunteering for some time, I had to return home to get ready for the evening. Vasavi had promised to pick me up. As soon as I arrived home, I had to finish some of my chores and then got ready for the event. My blue Mysore silk sari was longing to get out from my suitcase :). Well, maybe I am exaggerating my feelings, but I was very excited to wear my best outfit. After coming to the US, you rarely get a chance to dress in your ethnic outfits. You start searching for excuses to wear your Indian dresses and binge on the home made Indian food like you were hungry for the past two years:). Luckily, I can cook Indian food and we do have occasions to be our usual selves, but this was a special event. So wanted to look special too. Well, it’s the girl thing you see:).However, I started getting ready. I usually hate wasting time on getting dressed but today I couldn’t help it. I might have made more than twenty rounds to the bathroom only to get my face washed. Well, the usual scrubbing, cleansing, and moisturizing rituals you see :). However, it took me about an hour to get dressed. I called up Vasavi who came along with Dr. Hari to pick me up. She too looked great. Meanwhile, I greeted Dr.Hari and got into the car.

Tu- tu –mein-mein :
The kids (Shreya and Vidya) were seated in the last row and so I had the entire place to myself. “Hi guys, you both really look pretty today”, I said. Shreya was excited. While she was about to say something, Vidya interrupted her and soon both got into a battle of words. Later I came to know that it was the second part of their fight which had started at Vasavi’s place. Vidya and Shreya are neighbors. Both, very cute, bright and talkative. Both liked to call the shots and as a result always ended up fighting with each other. There was a lot of heated discussion between them. Vidya did not like Shreya talking and so she tried to close her mouth. Shreya got angry with Vidya for doing so and argued with Vidya for behaving badly with her. The parents in the front seat were getting very restless and tried all sorts of threats to stop them. But they weren’t successful.
While Dr.Hari was trying to console Vidya, Vasavi tried to calm down Shreya. I couldn’t but enjoy the tussle between the power puff girls (well, I just felt they were very powerful and so the name :)) and their parents. This went on and on and on.
All through the way to the venue, I had a fair chance of listening through their arguments. “Daddy why is there such a huge crowd outside?”, asked Vidya. Even before Dr. Hari could reply Shreya jumped in saying, “Well, we had a ball game today. So we have many people around. Is it true ma? , she tried to confirm it with Vasavi. “Yes talli (dear) you are right. Now will you please keep quite for some time?”, said Vasavi frustrated. She sensed the beginning of another tussle between them. It was difficult for both the parents to control these two kids. Vidya continued asking questions. What is a ball game?” asked Vidya.
Sheya: I think it is a baseball game. It is something like a football game or soccer.
Vidya: Well, soccer and football are both the same.
Shreya: No they are not the same.
Vidya: Yes, they are. But different countries use different names. Daddy is soccer and football not the same?” Vidya tried to confirm her argument.
Well, my dear, they have a small difference, which I will explain it to you later. Ok? Now, will you please keep quite for some time as we have reached the place?”, he said. I really wished we had few more minutes to listen to Dr. Hari’s explanation. Though the parents were frustrated with these kids, I could see two intelligent women in the making. Their questioning and reasoning was amazing. Though the arguments were reduced to ego clashes, in the process they were also trying to build their assertiveness, reason out before accepting things blindly. I really enjoyed their debate :). However, we had reached the venue and we three adults got down the car. Dr.Hari unlocked the door for the kids and waited for them to get out. Vidya just wouldn’t get out as she wanted to come along with her father. Shreya wanted to be with Vidya so she too denied getting down the car. The parents had to explain them about the parking problem and warned them of the long distance they had to walk in the cold. All the warnings really helped and at last they got down the car.
The commotion:
Dr. Hari left us with the kidsat the venue. Both started running all over the place and would not listen to Vasavi and so I decided to intervene. “Hey girls! Listen to me. This is a very huge place so you need to be very careful. If you need to move around, you should be accompanied by one of us. So you both need to listen to what we say and follow us wherever we go Ok?” I said. They nodded and came down the stairs. It was a great accomplishment for me to see those kids humbly surrendering to my words. I did not expect this at all. “Not bad ha! You can manage an elementary class,” I complimented myself. We hanged our coats in the corner and entered the venue. The hall was already full. While we were searching for a place to sit, Aditya came hurriedly towards me. “We need some volunteers for serving the food. Can you please help the food section?” he asked. It would be great if we can have another person to help”, he added. Vasavi understood Aditya’s gestures and explained to him about her responsibility. Even I wanted to meet my friends and chill around but had to rush into the food section.

A true vegetarian:
The crowd was slowly trickling in and so I had to hurry. I grabbed an apron and stood behind the serving table. A huge cooking vessel of Dal fry was before me. As the crowd passed by I invited them to have some dal. Most of them had their own excuses to avoid eating dal and instead went for an extra serving of chicken curry which was served by the very next person beside me.
Hmm? This is sooo bad! I said to myself. So what if it is dal. It’s far more healthy than the chicken, I said to myself. However, the attitude of the people angered me. I decided to do my best to finish the Dal fry. As the crowds passed by I tried to coax them to taste a bit of it. At times tried to guess if the person was a vegetarian and then encouraged them to have an extra serving of dal. Kids just hated it. Even the younger crowd. Even my harmless smile and soothing words could not convince them to try it out :(. It seemed the desis hated it while non-desis liked to try it. I could convince them to have an extra serving at my request. I felt much better when the dal was getting finished. I had to request Adil to get some more dal.
Yahoo! I screamed within myself in triumph. Not bad ha:). I thought. So was this the magic of my words or my costume? :). Anyways, I was happy about how things were going on. It was a long queue and my neighbor decided to leave even before someone could replace her. After some time, I found myself juggling and serving the three items before me. This continued fro some time till, Anamika and Siddeshji came to my rescue. At last when there were no more people left, I grabbed some food and ate it hurriedly. I had to trace Vasavi so that I could leave along with her. I couldn’t even enjoy what I was eating and just sampled all the varities in a hurry.

Settling down:
As soon I finished eating, I accompanied Anamika to the restroom. After we came back, I hardly had any time to find Vasavi. The lights were put off for the show to begin. I had no other choice but to sit down wherever I could find some place. Luckily found some place at the entrance and later could shift to a corner. Four of us had to squeeze in three chairs:). Well, wasn’t funny but we couldn’t complain. The program started and stretched till 11:30pm. Some were fun to watch while some were boring. However, I loved the songs by Urja (a band of seven days which was formed exclusively for the event:)). I almost sank in the song of “Dooba dooba rehta hoon “by Silk route. It was sung mellifluously by Ravi. Nishank and Shoumik were great with the guitar while Vinod magically played with the Casio. It was an excellent performance by the group. Navdeep Sindhu and group’s Hindustani vocal performance was great. I almost got mesmerized with the santoor vaadan.
After some time the crowd got involved in the songs and the dance sequences performed on the stage. All the undergrads and the grad students looked fabulous in their colorful attires. Their breathtaking steps to the bollywood songs were very enterntaining. The kids from Balvihar gave their best performance. The kathak performance by two American ladies was great. Over all it was an awesome show. Right from the MC’S to the performers, everyone entertained the audience to their best.

Happy moments:Though I did not participate in the cultural events, I was equally tired of sitting for almost two hours. However, all was well that ended well. All through out the event, I felt as if I were in India, attending a marriage reception. It made me feel better. For the first time, I didn't feel sad remembering my good old days back home.

A weeping goodbye

2004-11-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

Pappu, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

On Saturday my aunt broke the news about Pappu's death. Pappu was a cute little pomerian She was my grandma's adopted daughter and the only one who stayed with her all the time.
A very good companion of my granndma, she loved to go out for a walk. Even a small squeaky sound was a signal strong enough to make her bark. Whenver she barked, my grandma had to shout back at her to stop it. There would be a small clash of egos wherein both would try to make their point but at last Pappu would give up:). She knew she could take out her anger in another way. Guess how? Well, by not eating till my Gradnma apologized:). Believe it or not but that's the thruth. However, I still wonder whether it really understood our language and emotions.
However, Pappu behaved almost like a human. Whether it is food or people, she had her own favorites. She loved chocolates and meat. My grandma had to plead her to drink milk (I wonder why she wanted it to drink milk. After all do dogs drink milk?). When Sudha( my elder sister) got married, pappu missed her a lot. Whenever she would come to visit grandma ,she would run wagging her tail to her and would always follow where ever she went. It was quite evident that she missed her. My sister who stayed with my grandma , took great care of Pappu. It hated to take bath and my sister would slowly entice her by brushing her back gently, taking it in her arms, whispering sweet nothings to her and then ....Pappu would discover herself in the bathroom:).She would revolt back by barking for some time and squealing when the water was poured but would later yied to my sister.
Nedless to say, though I visited my grandma often I did not have any special afffection towards Pappu. Well, neither do I hate animals nor do I have any pets, but never got so deeply engrossed with animals. Maybe beacuse I never had any at home. However, since I heard the news I really feel sad. Whenver I come across people walking their animals down the street, the picture of Pappu flashes in front of me.Well, we humans are strange. We remember people/things or events most often when they are no more within our reach. Is it true with everyone or just with me?
Anyway, I felt the need to have a balanced mind and think about other living organisms around me. May be it's my guilty consciousness which made me write about her.
Good bye Pappu!

Cognitive Dissonance

2004-10-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I had a very interesting conversation with an American of Indian origin. Having brought up in two different cultures; he seemed to have assimilated the best of the both. However, for some reason his attitude towards the "desis" was very hostile. He feels that most of us are not straightforward. We are very alluding and try to live in a world of layers wherein the other person needs to peel of each layer to know them well. Is it so? His comments forced me to think.
After coming to the US, my life has changed. Within a span of a year, I have learnt a lot about life. Coming from a sheltered home made the transition difficult. I learnt to live all by myself, learnt to deal with some sensitive issues (maybe I'm still learning) and have learnt to be more organized. I am quite impressed by the socializing skills of the Americans. I find them very straightforward and professional. Moreover, they try to reach the limits of everything they venture into which is quite commendable. To a great extent I admire all these qualities but still feel we also have something to offer to the western world.
Tolerance, unity in diversity (I feel we are more tolerant than any other country in this regard), family values, respect to our culture and traditions are all the great qualities I cherish in our custom. Well, its' true that most of them are trying to alienate from the above, while some others realize their identity. There is always a cognitive dissonance.
For a person who has to strive in a different culture in which some of the customs might be completely contrary to the former ones is very stressful. The person undergoes the stage of cognitive dissonance trying to search for his/her identity and realize what they want. Ultimately they make the choice; either to stick with what they believe in or to change according to the new environment while some assimilate the best from the both. So the person might also become as open-minded as the others in his surroundings or may stick to what he believes in. I think, open-mindedness has more to do with the comfort level than with the cultures. I might sound egoistic but I feel we have a reason to be alluding. Do we or don’t we?

Dance Merengue!!

2004-10-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Got back to the dance floor after a long time. I was unable to make it to the classes because of my busy schedule. But this sunday I wanted to. Well, I didn't have much to read and also felt the need of exercising my lazy bones:). Ah,at last had some fun. Enjoyed dancing and listening to the music.
Modei demonstrated the steps with ease. It was fun to follow him.
Meanwhile some of the learners wanted to know about the history of Merengue. I browsed through the internet for the same.Here is an interesting link where you know more about the history of merengue:http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/merengue.htm

Additions to my blog

2004-10-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Ever since I wanted to blog, I wanted to publish information and articles on my academic work. At the same time, I wanted to use the blog as a medium to initiate some critical thinking but I did only the later. However, recently I spent some time to start another blog. I will be publishing my research work and other relevant information on disabilities through this blog.
I would appreciate the feedback on the stuff I write:).
The link is:http://swapnab.blogspot.com. You can access the same from the links on the left hand side of the blog.

Hope to see you there:).

Have I grown up or still have to?

2004-10-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

This is my second year celebrating Dusshera and Diwali away from home :(. I really wish I had some supernatural powers, the supernatural powers which Pranati usually talks about. Well, Pranati is my neighbor’s granddaughter, who is in the 4th grade. Literally a chatter box. However,what I enjoy having small and interesting conversations with Pranati. She combines logical thinking with her imagination to explain everything (including why she likes to wear her torn jeans:). Though rarely I spend time with her, whenever I do, I am fascinated by her stories:). Here is a smaple.

One fine day the fire alarm broke and everyone rushed out of their apartments. Aunty, Mandira (Pranati’s mom) and Pranati were also out. We all waited outside anxiously probing the reason behind it.

Meanwhile, aunty went to the other block and returned with some news. The alarm went off beacuse of someone's negligence rather than real fire.Someone had inadvertently pushed the switch on. She advised me to go in and resume my work. However, as I didn't have much to do and was impatiently waiting for the cops to switch off the alarm, I waited outside. Meanwhile, Mandira was with me and we both started talking. Our topics ranged from skin care to the coming winter which were interrupted by Pranati. She liked to add in her comments for everything.

While discussing some common issues our attention shifted to the coming winter. And here we go, while both of us were apprehensive about the chilly winds of the coming winter, Pranati's eyes glowed with excitement. She immediately interrupted us saying, "Actually I am very glad that winter is soon approaching. We won't have to bear with the bugs (ladybirds) anymore and daily I can have hot chocolate to drink".
Wow! That was a real good reason to enjoy winter. I couldn’t but smile at her and laugh about her innocence. “Well, would I ever enjoy winter for a cup of hot chocolate? How Interesting!! These kids really live in a dream world ha!,” I thought.

The sound was unbearable. As the alarm was located very close to my door, I thought of waiting outside than sitting in and getting my ear drum damaged. We were waiting for the police to turn it off. Meanwhile, the topic of the discussion turned towards the fire alarm. "Who might have turned it on? It is so annoying”, I said. "Well, someone might have done it by mistake", said Mandira. As she tried to continue with her explanation, Pranati immediately jumped in and continued with her own explanation. “Mom, I think someone might have arrived recently and they might be having a kid. And this kid might be a very naughty one. He might have asked his mom, about the fire alarm. She might have instructed him for what it was and then he might have tried to pull it for fun. I don't think it was done by any elders and the kids who have been living here for some time.All the kids who have been living here know the fire alarm and what happens when it rings. So it must have been the work of some mischievous kid who arrived recently",she said. I was really amazed. I couldn't but appreciate her analyzing skills.

So here are two contrasting explanations by the same person. One, a very naïve and rosy while the other which is very rational and highly reasonable. Well, I might be exaggerating but very often I thought she had real good imagination. Do children of her age typically do this or is she exceptionally good at imagining things? How can she be so silly about liking winter for hot chocolate while be able to give a logical explanation of the fire alarm.Is it prior knowledge or is it sheer diligence?
I don't know if my views about Pranati have anything to do with today's class on stages of development but I just can't stop thinking about it.

Now, back to square one. I really wish I had a magic band or a witches broom to fly home and return back by Monday. And, incase I get one will I "really" return back by Monday? It seems I haven't grown up yet. I still think like an elementary school kid:).

The Presidential Elections

2004-10-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

The fever is on. Be it the classroom or a general discussion, everyone talks about it. The newspapers are flashed with the latest happenings while the TV sets are tuned to the catch the latest news on it.
Yesterday after getting into my apartment,I found two messages flashed on my answering machine. One of them was a lengthy message to vote for John Kerry. I couldn't stop but laugh.Even my answering machine is not spared.However, when I was walking across the Dubuque street in downtown, I noticed an inscription on one of the huge walls stating "BUSH=MISTAKE". This indicates the peak of the election craze.
You just can't escpae it.Most often you encounter guys/girls with a clipboard trying to coax you to sign up for voting.Well, all this amuses me but sometimes irrriates me.
I met a friend of mine on one of the bus trips and we can't but discuss the elections again. When asked about my choice, I replied with an indifferent attitude."I was never interested in politics and will never be.Moreover,I do not have the right to vote. So what difference does it make by knowing my opinion?".This was my reply. It was indeed caustic and resulted in a small discussion of the pros and cons of the elections.This chat continued for a brief time and later we drifted to some other issues.
However later when I was refelcting upon my attitude towards politics and my involvement in it, I really felt like a frog in the well. I felt bad bad about my ignorance.Well,for sure I do not have the right to vote here but I never voted in India too. I hated politics and had a hostile feeling towards everyone involved in it. I also felt that it never made any difference even if I casted my vote. To top it all, I never had my voter's identification card till I was 23 because of my laziness and because of the poor administration system. And by the time, I knew the importance and wanted to vote,I was out of the country. However, that is another story.
Though I am enlightened to some extent, I am more fascinated that the attitude of people , especially woem is almost the same everywhere. And what even amazes me is that a country as advanced as America also has the same problems. It is indeed surprising to see Jennifer Aniston on the TV campaigning for the women voters. I just can't beleive that even in America women do not get involved in voting.
So what does this say? The conditions of women all over the world are the same.

Whether it is America or India, it doesn't make any difference about the way people think. You find people who do not vote in India as well as in America. Even in America you find women still fighting for their rights. It is astonishing that the US still can't boast of a Lady president as much as it boasts of being the Big brother of the world.
Any where in the world, women are always oppressed and deprived of the best. They still need to be reminded of their rights.

Colors of Fall

2004-10-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Colors of Fall, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Its lovely out here!The fall or the autumn season is a treat for every one's eyes. Cool atmosphere and lovely colors around.You come across all shades of green,pink, mauve, biege, yellow,brown.....you can go on and on and on :). So thought of dabbling with the tools and spilling some on my blog:).

Pensive

2004-09-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

Pensive, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

The idiom "A picture is worth thousand words" applies to this painting of mine.

Dreamflower?

2004-09-22T13:38:00.001-07:00

Dreamflower?, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

This might sound funny but whenever I am attending a boring lecture, or am thinking, my hand starts making a pattern for which I draw a stem and modify it into a flower. These are almost similar to the ones you will find on my notes and some of my text books:). Today I am actually piled with papers and assignments and so was deeply immersed in my thoughts. As I was on the computer I was able to give shape to these patterns which often come to mind.So here are my thought stimulators or dreamflowers?

bouquet

2004-09-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

bouquet, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

You never know what shape your scribblings can frame into.

Dilettante

2004-09-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

Dillentante, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Was trying to dabble with my paint brush and create something. Sort of a pressure to keep my blog going:).

However, this might look like a painting by an elementary school kid or may be a piece of modern art:)(too much of self praising).
Well, whatever it might be wanted to publish this. There is a hidden figure (or infact many figures)between those shades of color. Can you spot them out?

Pessimist?

2004-09-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

It all began with both of us trying to argue our stance and me pleading him to be more optimistic rather than a pessimist.The following is his answer to my accusation of being pessimistic.I felt the necessity of sharing it with everyone as it throws light on many sensitive issues. Enjoy reading:)

Hi,
This is w.r.t the question you asked me and I shall try to be as concise as possible! So far, this has been my experience.

I was in science group in 12th and in computer science in engineering college for 4 years. I have been the in US for MS in computer science for 2 years from now.
The people I meet somehow have been very superficial. Most of these people have very little interest in humanties. Most of them read novels. i.e pulp fiction. They neither have a clue of what their own mothertongue has to offer nor do they have any interest in exploring the oppurtunities available to them to know their own culture/society better. Indianness is gone in their minds. Everyone wants to dress in Lee cooper jeans, foreign deodrant and Niki shoes. But if a festival comes, then everyone show up with silk kurtas ready to dance. Here is a set of questions and the default answers you would get from a typical engineering student.

Who is your favorite author?
- Jeffrey Archer.
Have you read any work in your language
- No. nothing other than what was in the compulsory text book

What career options have you searched?
- Nothing. I am very interested in computer science. I want to be a software engineer.

Do you love your country?
- Offcourse. I cheer for India whenever they play cricket.

The indian pop culture is such a shame/sham. Watch any bollywood movie. Each one breaks the others hypocrism record.

With this sorry state of affairs, how could I be optimistic??

After coming to USA, I am used to hearing irritating remarks about India and its system from people who are basically escapists. No one is ready to agree that they could not handle the competition in India. The veil of ego puts the blame on India. I have stayed in this university for 2 years now and only 1 computer science student has gone back to India (offcourse not for some desi company but for an MNC) since the day I have come here. People beg, plead lie or do anything they can to stay in this country. They work illegally in gas stations, become servers.. for what? its not the american dream.. its only for a few pennies more than what they could have in India. I have seen the contempt on us in an American's eyes (again its applicable only to my experiences).

But, indians ignore it. They try to term it as professionalism.

You should have seen our independence day (rather the mockery of it)... faculty and families used it as a picnic, single students used it as a platform to hit on girls and romantically uninterested people saw it as an oppurtunity to grab as much free food as they can. There were few who helped us a lot but in return, they expected valuable contacts of girls, and a chance to give girls a lift back home!

The level of superficiality we have sunk into is scares me. There are no more real emotions.

Life is not all about money. I am not blaming someone if they do not think so. But, my personal belief is, life is atleast a bit about your country. Hence, when one is selling his own soul for money, its also true that his countries image is also tarnished, for no fault of hers. This is totally unacceptable for me.

I did not care to think about all this. Moreover, whether I realized it or not, I was also in the same crowd. All said and done, I myself did not do anything that I am proud of in engineering college.

Outsourcing a job to India is all great. Think about the idea behind it. It is basically doing a country's cheap jobs which they dont want to do because they have more important things to do in their life. We are waiting with open arms so that someone throws some cheap project at us so that we can make some money. Whatever business name and model you call it with, put in plain english, its Cyberslavery.

Forget all this... have Indians ever thought why we have to have computerize India? we are one billion people with enough number of unemployed people to make sure that every business process runs at its maximum efficiency. has anyone cared to stop and think why.. why should indians be so crazed about this alien concept? aren't their other important jobs that to be filled?

Today the Indian youth are proud to say that they hate politics and do not care what goes on in the country. today the the average indian youth is so corrupt that, for him, as long as his job gets done fast, he does not mind bribing people. (again this is my experience)
With this kind of people around you, when it comes to India, how are we to hope that our country will change? Who is to tell them that the life they are leading is the essence of slavery? that their minds are still captured by greed and the west? do they have the necessity to listen? if they continue with this greed operated ideology, what will happen to my country, my religion, my culture... this forces me to be cynical about tommorow. What I do does not matter. I shall put my effort to things I believe in. I will not care for the results. But, knowing that nothing is going to change whether I work for it or not makes me an avantagrade pessimist. Its not because my efforts are inconsequential. Its because the destiny of our land is to be decided by people who do not even know that they are the pillars of thid monument we call our home.
Do you see light?
regards,
Sham

Whatever Sham mentions seems very much relevant to how most of us think. This is in fact reality wherein we frame our own definitions for patriotism, proffessionalism, civic sense,community help etc.. etc.. Everyone has their own set of rules and beliefs which ultimately help them to survive the competition .It is indeed easy to crticize but really very difficult to be more wiser than others. Well wiser here doesn't refer to intelligence or the knowledge one has but with one being more selfless and pragmatic. One needs to think of oneself or to be too frank, one needs to be "selfish", but we also need to have the wisdom to act in a more wiser way without compromising one's comforts or needs. It is possible.

Time to Act

2004-09-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a forwarded message from one of my friends. I thought of sharing it through my blog. It really makes a lot of sense. It's a thought provoking speech by The President of India who tries to explain what "we" should do to than what the "government" should . Here it goes:

I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is.
She replied,"I want to live in a developed India".For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work; the railways are a joke,The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore.
Give him a name...YOURS.
Give him a face...YOURS.
YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best.
In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores.
YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are.
You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Ma him Causeway or Peder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.
YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over-stayed, identity.In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU?
YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai.
YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else."
YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost."
YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo?Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston?????
We are still talking of the same YOU.
YOU can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch the Indian ground.If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal Commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make,"Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?"He's right.
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin.
We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.This applies even to the staff that is known not to pass on the service to the public.
When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home.
Our excuse?"It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my son's rights to a dowry."So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government.But definitely not me and YOU.
When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system.- When New York becomes insecure we run to England.
When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf.
When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government.
Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country.Nobody thinks of feeding the system.Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, the article is highly thought inductive, calls for a greatdeal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too?..
I am echoing J.F. Kennedy's words to his fellow American to relate to Indians?."ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"Let's do what India needs from us.

Thank You,
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalaam

I really agree with Dr.Kalam. India is what it is because of it's people. Dr. Gurujada Apparao who is a famour Telugu writer had once quoted, "A country is not represented by it's geographical area but by it's people.
Indians are spread everywhere in the world, in various field, trying to be the best and striving hard to make it in adverse conditions. However when they talk about India, people think of poverty, dirty stinking roads, caste system, communal violence, child labour, dowry deaths, anything and everything bad under the sun. So the irony is that when people of the same country can excel exceptionally well and make a difference all over the world, why is the country still poor? Why is it still in the clutches of darkness and misery caused by all the evil factors? Is it because we are selfish to just take care of ourselves and not bother about the welfare of our country as whole? Or is it because we shy away from doing anything as we feel it hardly makes any difference?
It's high time we Indians realize the power and strength we have within us and utilize it for the betterment of our country too.

Dusk

2004-08-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

rainybeauty, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

This is another beautiful picture. I wanted to be seen between those flowers but when I got a copy of my picture I could figure out a shadow of mine:).So had to modify it.

Churchview

2004-08-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

churchview, originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

I really luv this picture of mine. I never expected that my friend had such a great aesthetic sense:). It came out far more better than I expected. The combination of those shades in the sky with that beautiful distant view of the church and the green carpet below makes everything look so fabulous. Good job buddy! :).

Musings of my mind

2004-08-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Recent incidents triggered a lot of thinking in me. I was wondering how our culture and our surroundings influence us or infact condition us. These in the long run affect every aspect of each individual, the society and on the whole the economy, the development and all other aspects of a country.

For instance if we consider the Americans , they are very rational in their thinking. They are ready to discard their old system and thinking for anything much better and more productive.And I feel this has an impact on their personal life and in their relationships too. If they are not satisfied with what they undergo they make every attempt to better their situation even if it results in breaking up relationships.In some cases, they are too rational and try to dissolve the relationship which does not provide any satisfaction. Thus their thinking does help them most often but at times results in a loss of peace of mind, especially pertaining to relationships.Thus they have their own positives and negatives.

On the other hand if you consider the typical Indian attitude, they stick to their primitive and the nutured methods continuously with no attempt to change them. The same applies in personal life and in forming family bonds. Everything is so stereotypical. There is a general cult which is followed . Even while making crucial decisions like choosing a career or a life partner most of them compare their fellow friends and use it as a base to dtermine what they want.No one wants to try something different and the ones who attempt it recieve very caustic remarks and have to struggle like a hell.

But the lining in the cloud is that still most of them try to stick to their family bonds which is a good gesture. They want to try and remain in the relationships against all odds. Thus we have our own positives and negatives.

Thus the education system, the trade, even the system of filling in applications whose format still resembles the british times is followed. No one makes a serious attempt to flow with time .Why is it so?
I do not have any offended feelings or biased notions about any culture and this is just my theorem of comparing and understanding my surroundings, they are my musings which force me to process the reasons behind such a cult in thinking.

Does anyone have an answer for this? Do you think I am right?

Here is a beautiful and very touching tale

2004-08-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a short and very touching tale sent to me by one of my friends. It really touched me and I liked it a lot.

Some time ago a man punished his 5-year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became even more upset when the child pasted the gold paper so as to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." The father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty. He spoke to her in a harsh manner, "Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there's supposed to besomething inside the package?" The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was full." The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his little girl, and he begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger. An accident took the life of the child only a short time later and it is told that the father kept that gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. And whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems he would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there. In a very real sense, each of us as human beings have been given a golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

kanyadaanam

2004-08-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

This is an auspicious sculpture wherein Padmavati's father is marrying his daughter to the Lord Balaji.
This ceremony is called "Kanyadaanam"(kanya-daughter/woman/girl daanam-giving away)which forms an important part of every marriage ritual in India.

kanyadaanam
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

padmavati kalyanam

2004-08-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

This is a sculpture in Arora Temple, Illinois.

I really felt like home when I visited the temple. Almost all of them spoke telugu and the pandit was chanting satyanarayana vratam at that time in Telugu. I felt I was at a temple in Secunderabad.

kalyanam
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Placid lake

2004-08-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely picture of the Iowa river near the campus. The ducks add to the beauty and serenity of the small "river" which rather resembles a creek.

6cc7
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Guess what?

2004-08-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

I really loved this snap. I somehow felt it resembled a painting. Some wierd activity was going on in the sky. Can you try to figure out what the clouds look like?
I thought I could see a cat preying on a duck. What about you?

scenery_3
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Diffusing beauty

2004-08-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

This was taken when we were driving through Illinois. The climate was very unpredicatable; it was rainy and sunny. This picture represents the beautiful clouds which were getting diffused to trickle down as rain.

5a98
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Pentacrest

2004-08-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is the log of The University of Iowa. "The Pentacrest" which is surrounded with five buildings is the center of attraction of Iowa city. It adds beauty and represents the "Old Capitol" of Iowa state.

5aaf
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

foggyhome

2004-08-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

At last I have the time to post my pictures. Well, I was procastinating this for a long time.
Here are some of the pictures I took while driving from Iowa to Illinois.

I liked this one cos it gives a foggy look and makes the home look mystical and also somewhat attractive.

foggyhome
Originally uploaded by swapna bolleboina.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

2004-08-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

As I was flipping through my diary and reading the contents of it, I felt like sharing this hypothesis of mine. I always thought that an equillibrium in the reactions of a person makes him more better.The Newton's third law of motion which explains about the equillibrium in the action and it's reaction can be applied to explain human behavior too.

Most often my experiences assert the point that no one is an introvert or an extrovert.Pertaining to the behavior of a person, I assume that every person can and usually acts in the opposite way which might be unusual about him. It is rather the situations or the comfort level which determine the behavior of the person. Subconsciously every person acts and also reacts to the same action in the equally opposite way. This in fact brings harmony and balances his mental level.Though the degree and the duration may again vary but every person has to be expressive and also reflective or pensive.

A person who is a very complying and obliging employee can be a bossy person at home or with a certain person. This brings about a balance and harmony in the individual.
This happens to me several times. I behave in excatly contradicting way in different situations. Especially in a new situation I might be too quiet and have that innocent and "ignorance is bliss" sort of an expression while my roommates would have just the opposite interpretation of my nature.My periods of chattering have to be balanced with placid periods.

After reaching the peak of saturation and undergoing all sorts of tragedies without reacting, the person has to break into tears or react in opposite way to ventillate his emotions. This also balances his mental stature.Well, this again proves it: Every action has or should have an equal and opposite reaction.

The power of the subconscious mind

2004-07-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

After experiencing a lot of change in me I now believe that we are what we wanted to be and we will be what we want to be.

Every person has his own pattern of thoughts influenced by so many things around him. The environment, the role models who influence him, his experiences in life , all of them mold his character to a great extent. Especially when he admires certain things and is unable to fulfill them , the strong desire to achieve that particualr thing enters the subconsicous level. As time passes by , through various experiences, or through various encounters, these feelings or cravings get strengthended, faded or modified . Without the knowledge the individual works to achieve what he wanted to and finds himself in the very state he once dreamt of.

I was very surprised to find myself in the same situation I once dreamt of. Right from my food habits, my dressing, my preferences , everything is almost similar to what I always wanted to have. It is amazing to discover the change in me, especially when you try to step five years behind .

Our dormant thoughts are constantly in action trying to achieve waht we aspire for, what we dream for, what we desire for. The positives consequences reinforce our motives while the negatives can have a drastic effect on us. The person can compromise and move to another destination or it may give the person reseliance to achieve what he wants to.

And the ultimatum is the result of the struggles and the processing which goes together.

So it's always good to dream about something which you want to achieve, cos the moment you dream, your subconscious is activated which influences your conscious efforts to achieve your goal.And in case you fail in getting what you dreamt of, believe me it was not worth your effort. You deserved something better or different:).

The relevance of Bindi

2004-07-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

Wel, most often I come across very inquisitive and eager minds who want to know a lot about India and our customs. Especially most of them questioned about the significance of bindi.To save my head I did tell them about it's significance which I read when I very young in a monthly book called Wisdom. HoweverI wanted to just check if I was right. To my amazement( or rather dissapointment?) none of my Indian friends knew the answers. So I decided to probe and find out the reason. I found this very interesting article which made me feel proud about our ancestors.
They indeed had a very scientific approach for everything.

Bindi is derived from the Sanskrit word "Bindu" or a drop, it is supposed to signify the mystic third eye of a person and therefore, when properly marked, becomes the central point of the base of the creation itself. It is a symbol of auspiciousness, good fortune and festivity.

Why Bindi?
The very positioning of the bindi is significant. The area between the eyebrows is the seat of latent wisdom. This area is known as the "Agna" (6th chakra) meaning "command". It is said to control various levels of concentration attained through meditation. The central point of this area is the "Bindu" wherein all experience is gathered in total concentration. Tantric tradition has it that during meditation, the "kundalini" - the latent energy that lies at the base of the spine is awakened and rises to the point of sahasrara (7th chakra) situated in the head or brain. The central point, the bindu, becomes therefore a possible outlet for this potent energy. It is believed that the red kumkum lies between the eyebrows to retain energy in the human body.

courtesy:http://www.shaadi.com/wedding/rituals/bindi/040306-bindi-history.php<

Nostalgia

2004-06-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

The summer course on reading has made me feel enthusiastic about readign again. After a very long time I have started to enjoy reading.
Well, reading was just a hobby for me and I never liked to stick to books all the time. For that matter never like to do anything at a stretch. But somehow I am improving my reading and analysing skills through this class.
Was just wondering about my school years and the books I read. Frankly speaking,during my school years I used to spend very little time reading. But that little time was spent reading champaks( I luved the illustrations) some old chandamamas which my Mom had collected from the time we were too young to read. Other than that I luved browsing through the magazines my father bought. And of course "WISDOM" was a real good book. I luved to read it and it for sure enhanced my general knowledge and my thinking.
As I had an elder sister I did not have to worry about buying or borrowing books for the coming year.As she graduated to a higer class all her text books were mine.And during those times we had very interesting stories for our supplementary books and texts. So most of the time I used to read my text books ahead of time( well not the text but the supplementary texts which had very interesting stories by various Indian and international authors).
It was again a sort of peer pressure( or rather jealousy or maybe sibling pressure:)). My sister used to use the context of these stories which she had for her class and I used to feel j. And then as soon as I could grab them I used to read them and boast that even I knew Trojan war and Don Quixote.I wanted to be ahead of her or rather tried to oversmart her but was never successful:).

However, I am glad to have read all those books in my formative years which contributed a lot in improving my vocabulary, my creativity and my memory( I still remember them:).In fact the best part of my supplementray texts were the biographies of the authors.I now feel that those biographies had influenced me to a great extent. In fact they have developed my inquisitveness to relate a person's background to his achievements.I learnt a lot from them and had a crush on quite a few:).

We had a lot many stories written by some of the famous Indian authors and Premchand was my favourite. I really liked his stories. They almost often spoke of the struggles of the people in those times.Well, somehow I had a crush on Premchand at that point of time and liked all of his stories which I read. I also liked "Macbeth", "As you like it" and " The merchant of Venice" by Shakesphere. Leo Tolstoy was another favourite author of mine.
However the most favoruite books of mine were those written by ENID BLYTON. I loved to read her books. They were all fantasy stories wherein the trees could grow candies:) and the town always had some or the other festival of some sort.
The charachters were very funny and interesting.There were gnomes, pygmies and what not. I just can't remember any now. But I used to love reading those books. Her stories always an interesting end with a moral.
Thus a part of my childhood was spent in reading some real interesting stuff. But I just can't remember as to when I stopped enjoying reading. Could be somewhere in the seventh standard when the fear of board exams were induced in me. However, it's always nice to think back and remember those times especially when I have to read similar stuff for my student. Needless to say I enjoy reading them even now and wish my text books were as interesting as the Enid Blyton and the Munshi Premchand stories:).

It's her personality......

2004-06-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

"Oh really"? The comment left me thinking and pondering over what she really meant? In fact I have a habit of writing everything in a detailed and desciptive way. Most of my papers and assignments are very lengthy and very detailed or "wordy". But what does it tell the reader about my personality?
Well,Courtney was suprised by the length of my lesson plans and when she showed it to Heather who happens to be my friend, she gave a very brief and postive(?)remark "It's a part of her personality. She tries to explain every small thing in detail", she said.I was a bit taken back. Of course was suprised that she knew me so well.But?.....
Hmm..so did she mean that I am very descriptive even when I talk?And how does it reflect on my personality?

I was in fact pondering over the same topic this morning. But I have a different explanation to give.Well,I do believe that our academics and our work refelcts our personality but to a great extent there are factors which influence us to behave in a certain way or work in a certain way( may be I am supporting Watson's behaviorism and Skinner's conditioning theory now.They seem to be emebdded in every life experience for me).Thus to completely attribute my lengthy and descriptive work to my personality would be a bias.
Well, I believe I am more descriptive because of the type of education system I was exposed to all through these years till I landed up in the US.Through out my school and college years I was supposed to be as descriptive as possible.( Five marks answers at least two pages, 10 marks answers at least 5 pages). And after getting out of the examination hall the focus of our discussion would naturally be on our performance and also on who took the maximum number of additionals:).It was used to compare each other's performance and also predict their sucess in the exam.Well,no discrimination between the arts and sciences again. I was a science student and still was expected to be as descriptive as possible in my answers.

So you see It is not a part of my personality but the style of writing I had cultivated.Well,I do have some more proof to justify my say.During my proctoring sessions I am supposed to invigilate the examinations.Even this time is spent in observations and most of the time in preparing for my assignments.

Though I did it unintentionally I was suprised when I went through the answer sheets of the biostatistics students from India and America.When both the Indian and the American students took the bio stats exam, the Indian students took more time to complete the test and were also more descriptive in their answers.Most of the Indian students used pens while the Americans used pencils. Thus after collecting their papers and sneaking and peeping through them I felt I wasn't alone.

And I have another strong reason to justify my style to the education system I am exposed.One of these days an american desi had taken the test.(It was hard to know if he was of Indian origin. He rather looked like a Latin American at some point and a tanned white American at another. But still he had some faint features of an Indian.However his name which had an Indian middle name solved the puzzle).
Well, as I had expected this guy took the test in bio statistics and used a pencil and was less descriptive.So my analogies and my analyzing skills helped me to justify my style but is there something to do with my personality? What did Heather actually mean?

Though not a big issue I am still trying to analyze what she meant.

Going poetic today

2004-06-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well everything seems to be perfect today. The climate I mean. It is cool, drizzling and very cosy. Somehow am feeling very romantic and poetic. Thought of sharing some of my favourite poems. The one by Rudyard kipling is my favorite. It reminds me of Sri Krishna in " THE BHAGAVADGITA" wherein he tries to explain Arjuna the essence of a well balanced person or a "sthithapragnya". I can very well relate to the readings from "The GITA" to this poem by Rudyard Kipling ..... Very inspiring and enlightening.

IF
By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Kipling is said to have written the poem 'If' with Dr Leander Starr Jameson in mind, who led about five-hundred of his countrymen in a failed raid against the Boers, in southern Africa. The 'Jameson Raid' was later considered a major factor in starting the Boer War (1899-1902).

Courtesy: www.businessballs.com/ifpoemrudyardkipling.htm

My other favourite poem is by Robert Frost. This one is known by many But I remember reading it as part of my English text. I really liked it and now feel like reading it again.

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

courtesy:http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html

Making sense of what we learn

2004-06-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

We write,read and work on the stuff necessary to either complete our coursework or to do with our work.As we keep growing or learning and progressing through our careers and academic struggles, each one of us develops his/her own pattern of doing things.This aids or influences the way we think, the way we analyze, strategies we use for problem solving, organizing, proioritizing and planning our goals, developing our interests and fostering them etc.. etc.. through imitation and sometimes modelling them to help others.The methods of learning and the surroundings influence the individual and contribute to the evolution of the person. Hence no one person is in any way similar to another.
But.... we do need to know the best ways to function productively in the environment we live.This means to adapt, folow and function according to the rules of the society(Darwin's theory of " The survival of the fittest" is still valid).
Education plays a major role in shaping the individual. In a way the term "education" is a very broad one and every person differs in their perspective. However the end result is always enlightening and improving oneself.
So the methods/ strategies used to help students gain knowledge should be practical enough. They should be able to apply the knowledge and the skills to develop their analytical skills, problem solving skills, organizing and analyzing in a genrealized way( here "generalised" means able to apply one's knowledge in different situations using the same strategy).
Ok so the gist of the whole story or the gyan of the day is to have a practical approach towards the strategies used in teaching.
Cos our reading and learning habits have a great influence on our lifestyles too.

Reading the right way

2004-06-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

So I am a reading clinician for the next four weeks. It's a nice way to interact with kids and help them to read. Especially the struggling readers.How I wish we had something of this kind in India. Well, yes may be very soon I can start something:). However, I often feel that the way we read or the way we are taught to read is faulty. In fact a person who is a good reader( not quantitatively but qualitatively)is more successful in his academic pursuits than otherwise. In fact good reading strategies should be taught right from the kindergarten which enrich the child's brain with all the right literature and the thinking process. Reading surely helps build analyzing skills, problem solving skills and of course comprehension. All these factors are very much needed in every activity we are involved in.

So when we are reading, there should be a method to be followed.In fact most of the fluent readers do follow all these rules or the structure of reading. Well,for the adults or the fluent readers the SQ3R method ( Survey, Question, Read,Recite and Review method) really helps. http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/sq3r.html gives you an idea of this method.

Ok and now coming to the emergent readers, well the kids in their formative years have to be motivated in a better way to enjoy and love reading. This can be done by choosing the material appropriate to their interest level, their ability and also the level they need to achieve. Discussing the title and trying to predict what the story is will initiate more interest and motivate them to read. Picture walk, wherein they are made to look through the various pictures and try to frame the story based on the pictures will help them to draw some more information about the story. And then while reading there should be pauses or stops wherein the child has to stop reading and then reflect back to what they read. And then questions such as what might happen next, and questions which are inferential can elicit the information and improve their comprehension.
In a similar way the texts or the books chosen for begginning readers, transition readers and fluent readers cover similar aspects based on their level.Thus the same rules applies based on the level of the reader.

Something more

2004-06-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time since I blogged in and wrote something. Well,wanted to get into some serious stuff but will be writing on it after I am done with my summer class. Proffessional knowledge would be more beneficial than my experience in this situation. However, I am just enjoying some change around me. Feels like I am in India now. It's so hot. 99F and scorching heat. But the best part is the beautiful flowers and plants which bloom all over the place. They make the whole summer look so beautiful. Well, had been to the Mormontrek heritage festival.Not a great thing happening around but it was kinda interesting. Well, in case you didn't know anything about Mormons, they were the first pilgrim fathers or the Europeans who travelled in handcarts to settle at different places in the United states.

The whole last week was a busy one attending classes and working at the International center. Well, a part of the activities of the summer clinic was to introduce oneself to the whole class. And the way it was done was quite interesting and funny. Each person was told to say something about themselves and then were asked to share three artifacts which they cherished the most. It was funny for me cos sharing three or more artifacts or something about themselves would hardly give a glance into that person's personality. Any way each one brought their stuff to school and showed them to the class. The interesting thing was that almost 80-89% of the class brought the pictures of their husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends/family members,football or something to do with the ball games, books they like to read/are reading and of course the T-shirts to represent the school or the place where they work. Well, so it seemed that almost all of them had the same tastes or things they think of to share.

However I was no different but I tried to be different( this is what I always try to be).
I am not a great fan of cricket or a ny ball game nor do I have a family. Well, I would luv to share the pics of my parents and my siblings but I had none. So was wondering what could I take to the class to show everyone. Well, I remembered that I had carried my hat which was gifted by this girl from Mizoram. During my visit to Delhi we became very good friends and on the last day she left a straw hat for me as a rememberance. I had carried it all over ot the US with me. Though I never used the hat often it was something I really liked, so I carried it with me. Well, I had my diary which was quite old but it is important as I share my apprehensions, my excited moments and some real important introspections and happenings in my life. In fact everything I write in it will give the reader an analysis of what was going on at different periods of time. And then what more.... hmm yes, I have the habit of collecting flowers and leaves unique to a certain place. Well I did have some which I had pressed and kept in my book so decided to take them . And then I had my T-shirt which was gifted to me for tutoring undergrad students in psychology. So here I was with more than three artifacts to share with the class:).

Of course thus tried to be unique in my own way.But do u think it really did tell something about me to the class? No way. I am more than what I tried to show to the class. Well, I feel everyone was something else than what their artifacts spoke.Of course their artifacts did represent something about them but for sure didn't give a true picture of the person. Now I can't understand as to why I am so bothered about the true identity of each and everyone.But I was just wondering as to why everyone one thinks in a similar way or for that matter why do we differ. Sounds puzzling but .....ok now if I start again then I will be talking about the cultural diversity and stuff like that. It's late in the night and I will stop here.

Analyse this

2004-05-31T10:33:00.000-07:00

As part of my coursework I have to cover topics based on cultural diversity and the efforts to be made to make everyone comfortable,merge all the differences at the same time help each other to relate to their culture and heritage.

Now I was just wondering about the diverse cultures we have back in India. The different religions and the different castes. The different languages and the dialects.The different physicial features and etc.. etc.. Of course the one thing which unifies all is that we are of the same race.Now, what comes into my mind is that we never had a class wherein we are taught about our diversity, how to cope up with the tamil language when you go to Chennai(it's really hard to survive if you didn't understand Tamil),how to relate yourself to the Indians from the eastern part(Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh etc..) and how should you mingle with a parent who is of different religion.(No offense on the regions or religions I mentioned please..I just wanted to make my point clear.)

Moreover we never fail to associate with our family background and culture and our language and dialects.It seems we have a natural tendency to adjust ourselves according to the situations and diverse cultures. Now my question is that if we are far more efficient in amalgamating everything and are far more efficient in merging our differences why do we still have the class and religious feuds? Why do we still have riots and curfews?

Sounds funny but true

2004-05-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

It seems that Americans luv to label everyone and anyone. Based on the race, based on the ethnicity, based on the place you live, based on your area of weakness; you named it and there is a word for it.But why? In no way does it make one's life easy. It just complicates the lives of people and of course attaches a sort of biased or stereotypical attitude towards it.
In case your child doesn't mingle with anyone then he might be an autistic, in case he finds difficult to concentrate then he/she has ADD( attention deficit disorder). Well,if the person has problems in working on their stuff then learning disabled, if the person is unable to talk freely with others then anxiety problem.Oh God. I am fed up of coming across these labels.

As time passes by they just get embedded in the colloqiual language and are used so commonly that they become a cliche. Ulitmately the salad bowl starts looking like a trash can wherein you find all the differences in an ugly way rather than in a healthy way.Of course agreed that associating a person to a certain condition or a group surely helps in understanding the person more better but most often it only serves as a tool to create more chaos and inferior feeling.
Just like the invention of atom bomb which was actually created to know the benefits of nuclear fission and fusion but is used for destructive purposes the same is with labeling.

This is nothing to do with labelling but more to do with human nature. How the humans try to ease out things and then complicate it further:). Sounds funny but true.

Vygotsky who?

2004-05-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

One of the eminent psychologist whose findings and theories were ignored till recently. It is quite suprising because his writings and his findings have more practical implications in today's world.
Thus he was way ahead of his time.In his book "Thought and Language" he emphasize on the role culture and language plays in improving the brain connections and the functioning fo the brain. According to him "the zone of proximal development" keeps increasing as we expose the growing human to various things in the surroundings which builds the connections and thus the memory.

Well this is just a small description about him and his work. You can find more on the sites:http://tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html
http://www.kolar.org/vygotsky/

My new world

2004-05-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hmm, So at last getting into the virtual world and creating a space of my own.This blog of mine would be somewhat dry or may be intellectually stimulating maybe following the vygotskian principles and much to do with education and educating.

Many other issues will also be covered which might be intellectually stimulating and sleep inducing:). However as my thought process develops it will be exciting as it will mirror my thouhgts my perception towards the happennings and would also contribute to my intellectual enlightenment.